Recoil
by Cereza
Summary: Gang land Tomoeda clashes with upper class Tomoeda as Sakura and her friends are thrown into a world of murder, money and revenge. Will they escape the harrowing world of the gangs, or will they be recoiled back in? Only time will tell. Multi-chap fic, SXS,EXT various others. Artwork not mine
1. Introductions

_**AN: Evening guys. New fic here, hoping it's going to be a good one! I'm back into writing now and looking for something to get my teeth into. And after reading myself through virtually every CCS fic, I thought I'd give it a whirl. R&R!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nor the song featured in the chapter. I just own the storyline. :)**_

_The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes._

—_Marcel Proust_

Chapter One: Introductions

Daybreak.

Sun filtering softly through the skies of Tomoeda, passing through a cloud in a rain of glorious amber glaze, empowering the plants under the soft sky to open, exhale and inhale the soft air. The rain of the previous night, slowly warmed into dissipating back into the air as it lay upon the roads of the town, snaking through streets, next to buildings and between landmarks.

A soft flutter of breeze, the last breath of the night, escaping softly from above; issuing a movement on the trees of the parks. Plucking a leaf from its dependant tree, floating softly to the ground to lay, to rest, in hopes of being swept by an early morning worker, cleaning the streets.

Or perhaps, to the surface of the water of a pool, a vast expanse in which such an item causes a ripple effect- moving, consuming, over the surface. The surface of a pool in the grounds of a grand mansion, a mansion of such grandeur and riches that the leaf look out of place; dirty, soiling the serenity of the situation. Until, higher in the sky, upon a third floor, the shrill sound of a morning alarm, shouting into the morning that the day has begun for creatures now, that the night has been chased away.

"Ugh…" Sakura Kinomoto opened her eyes, the slight peek of sunlight of the early morn disturbing her fragile vision at such a time of day. Her eyes moved to the alarm clock disturbing her peaceful slumber, moving her to slam a forceful, yet porcelain fragile, fist to the top of it to negate the shrill noise that had dared remove her from her dream state.

Sakura stretched, pulling her auburn hair out of her eyes, emerald sparkles dulled by the early time. Swinging her legs off the bed, she pulled her body with her, stumbling to the shower.

Hot water, piercing to the skin, rolled down her back, steaming up the shower room and the mirror from the wall in the room. A sigh escaped her lips, gently welcoming the day in a more friendly way than five minutes previous.

Hopping out of the room several minutes later, a different scene was to be shown. Sakura Kinomoto, 17 years old, a face clad in a touch of light make up and long auburn hair that shone in the day light was finally ready for school. For this was her morning ritual, as five days out of seven she belonged to a school, to be taught and attempt to understand subjects that were not her strong point, such as mathematics. But it was her responsibility, to honour her family, that she excel in such.

She walked to the calendar on the wall, her eyes trained to the date she had crossed off two days previously.

The anniversary of her brother and her father's death.

A harrowing mix of emotions had overcome her at this time of year, every year since 7 years previously, when a young Sakura had been robbed of the joy of a functional family to grow up with, to share her stories with and grow old between.

Been robbed, of becoming an aunt, of meeting new family, of seeing the pride on her father's face the day she would announce marriage, of children, even, of graduation. All because of a car, in which, upon the particularly rainy March several years ago, had failed to stop; refused, in fact, to break, due to a fault in the production which lay unnoticed. The aquaplaning motion of the car had led to its careering in a 60kmp zone into a nearby lorry. And that had been the end of her almost functioning family.

Her mother? She had been dead long before, just after Sakura was born. When Nadeshiko was described by her brother and father, she had always remembered a look fall upon their faces, of serene contentment. All Sakura could imagine now, for her own sanity, was that this look of pure contentment was forever residing upon their faces with Nadeshiko, up in heaven.

Sighing, Sakura turned, opening the door in a twirl of school skirt fanning around her and long auburn locks with a slight curl at the bottom, closing it as fast as it opened as she exited.

The hallways were silent up here, framed pictures of family upon the corridors. This was her territory. Sakura had been left in the apt care of her housekeeper from when she was younger, Layla. Layla was an older woman, and had looked after her since she was younger, a friend of her mothers and of a particularly hen-pecking nature, with cursive wrinkles framing her face. She was not out for Sakura's money, in fact the woman had agreed to godmother Sakura many years ago, and took the oath seriously. She would, eventually, upon Sakura's eighteenth birthday, leave her side to travel the world with her long suffering husband, Jeffery, Sakura's gardener. Sakura did not mind; it was deserved. Layla had a heart of pure gold.

"Layla?" Sakura observed, walking into the breakfast room. Sun filtered through the decadent golden drape curtains onto the forefront of the table in front of her, dancing along the glass in front of her and winking, shimmering softly.

"Sakura dear, it's about time you came downstairs girl" A smile formed over the older woman's features, her portly frame and rounder belly wading into view.

"Sorry Layla, I took a bit longer in the shower this morning"

"Its fine dear, now eat, and leave for school"

A smile crept up her features as she took her seat, pancakes in front of her as she poured the orange juice into her glass. Eating, barely touching her plate, she moved to leave as soon as she was satisfied. At this time of year, she was never hungry.

"Goodbye Layla, I'm going shopping with Tomoyo tonight, I'll bring her around to say hello afterwards"

The door was closing, and a hopeful Sakura hurried toward the garage. Layla would usually have hurried back into the breakfast room to assure she'd eaten her fill, yet today she'd made it out of the door before it was possible. With a rueful smile, she clicked the door to the garage, musing over the possibility of Layla making a feast for her tonight so she could check her eating habits.

The lights flashed as the large garage opened, signalling the opening of a car in lot. Sakura had a love and hate relationship with vehicles. It was her family's death by such a machine, which caused her to hate them. She dare not go in one for almost two years after they had died, yet now, when she sat behind the wheel of one, she came alive. Although Sakura was not a dangerous driver, she was proficient enough to be able to allow herself to become one with the vehicle, the execution of various turns at speed when she felt in the mood. For behind the wheel, Sakura could take her mind off of the last few days, of her years of mourning, and become _free._

The car twisted out of the electric gates, the soft roar of the engine filling the yard. A red Porsche Carerra, growling in the morning sun peeking through the sky, Sakura firmly behind the wheel, a black pair of sunglasses covering her eyes as she pulled down the street to her school.

"Tomoyo!"

"Sakura, over here!"

A girl with long, dark hair approached her, her smile hung upon her delicate features, a vision of pure beauty with amethyst eyes that stared into ones soul. Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend, a childhood companion grown into a lifelong partner- a support crutch for the hard times, and a partner in crime for the good ones.

She walked to greet her, a bear hug enveloping both as they finally met. Walking together, at the gate stood three of their other friends, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko. Perhaps one could comment they were plainer looking than the two strikingly beautiful girls that were Sakura and Tomoyo, perhaps one could say despite this, they looked beautiful in their own ways. Smiles adorned their faces as they greeted the girls.

"Are you guys ready for this weekend? I'm so excited!" Rika's voice squealed over the pleasantries, her eyes dancing merrily in the light.

"You guys don't need to make such a deal out of this you know!"

"Sakura, Sakura. It's not every day that all your friends will finally be eighteen. And we made a pact, so don't forget it!" Naoko's voice could be heard over Sakura's protest, a grin embellishing her features.

It was true; at the weekend, on April 1st, Sakura Kinomoto would turn eighteen years old. And ever since they reached the age of sixteen, a pact had occurred between the five girls that they would head out on Sakura's eighteenth birthday, together, to dance and to effectively party for the night. None had stepped out before in such a manner, Rika and Naoko having once attempted it but decidedly gone home after the first bar, a smattering of alcohol confusing their usually sober minds. This weekend, for all effects and purposes, was going to be big news for the girls. Sure, others in their year spoke of stories of clubbing and the wild parties that were on offer, yet none had experienced it first hand- for on Sakura's eighteenth, the bond of friendship between the girls would be on show for the world to see, the pact that they had made to venture into the adult life together, when all of them were able to.

After the morning arrived the afternoon, and eventually the knelling of the school bell announcing the end of the day.

"Hey Moyo, where are you? You're meant to be meeting me outside the auditorium right?"

Sakura sighed, slipping the phone back into her pocket on her top as she stood outside, waiting for her friend to be relieved from choir. A finals for the year was coming up, as the term ended soon, and therefore competition practice took precedent over some lessons for Tomoyo- not that it would have mattered, she was an A grade student without having to open a book.

"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Where have you been? I've been waiting like… Ten minutes!"

"Jeez, woman, I ran over with a song, calm down"

Sakura smiled, nudging her friend playfully as a grin broke out across both their faces.

"Come on, shopping time! I get to dress you in something fancy! And I don't mean dinner date fancy!" Tomoyo laughed with a wink, her arm looped through Sakura's as they walked the hall, heading to the car park.

"Must I always be incapable of picking out my own clothing…?" Sakura mumbled, her friend giving her another nudge in the ribs as Sakura unlocked the car. Climbing in, they set out to the mall, looking for something to wear.

The radio flicked on sometime in the journey, Sakura had not noticed due to her playful talk with Tomoyo. The lights hit a red, and she slowed, slowly mumbling words to the song playing as her ears picked up. Although Sakura was not particularly a fan of the music in the charts a lot of the time, incessant playing of it constantly by others allowed her to know the words.

Deep inside there's a fire

'Cause I'm no longer looking at a reflection that I admire

I paint a picture of a fighter But that someone looking back at me says I'm a liar

If I should die before I wake

The least that I could ever say

I made mistakes but held on to my faith  
'Cause when I look in a mirror, I don't even recognize myself

I've got the heart of a winner

But looking back at me is someone else  
No regrets, no regrets

No point in crying over yesterday, ay  
No regrets, no regrets'

Cause we ain't even seen the best of days

Her voice mumbled slowly over the lyrics, considering in her subconscious of the regrets she had. Of her family, over her life and the things she wished to do in her future. Sighing, she continued, until the radio was cut short.

"_We interrupt this broadcast with the traffic announcement for the 27__th__ of April, 4.10pm. Following yet another gang related incident, upper 75__th__ street will be closed once again for the remainder of the afternoon. Will all traffic considering this route please divert following the signs that will be in place shortly. For those who have previously travelled this route in such circumstances, the diversion will remain the same."_

"Again? How many times is that in the past month? Things are getting bad round here Saku, it's not safe anymore." Tomoyo's voice drowned out the rest of the reporter's voice, her eyes creased and her forehead wrinkled into a soft frown.

"I know, it's all about these gangs fighting. Someone at school told me they heard gunshots near our side of town the other week, maybe its hearsay, but streets are getting shut off to it all the time. The newspapers are having frenzy- well that's what Layla says anyway."

Sakura was right, of course, as was Layla. Lately, the bustling town of Tomoeda had turned into a gang paradise. Sure, there had been gangs before, and there would be gangs in the future, but none were as violent and so far thrust into the forefront of the news as these few incidents that had been filling paper stands and consuming news stations for the past months. The streets were no longer safe in parts of town at night, people were being found dead, decapitated, and adorned with gang tattoos. One person would turn up dead with one emblem, another the next day with an opposite one. It was like a constant fight for revenge, or so the news said. It would obviously, run much deeper.

"How about this one?" Tomoyo turned to Sakura, perhaps the fiftieth dress she had shown Sakura, who wasn't having much interest in the conversation.

Every girl, no matter whom they were upon the planet, adores the feel of new, shiny clothes and a wardrobe full of niceties. However, after being shown the fiftieth dress that looked more like something provocative for sleeping in, Sakura was all ready to run for the hills from Tomoyo and that evil glint in her eye. Every time she found one dress, she would then rally to the next rail, to the next shop, in case she was to miss the perfect dress.

"Whatever, I'm giving up. The towels in, just get me something and I'll like it or lump it."

"Oh Saku, it's not every day you turn 18 you know! It's a big landmark! And we're meant to be going out, it's special, you have to look nice!"

"I suppose Tomoyo, I suppose".

A sigh escaped her friends lips as she furiously looked round in case she had missed something else, but giving up she moved from Sakura to the till, leaving her friend in thought.

The radio announcement was still fresh in her mind, was it even safe to be going out this weekend? Would the streets be full of gangs on a weekend? Perhaps it was silly to venture out into the streets when most clubs would surely be owned by such gangs, their seedy underground world exposed and ready taking girls like them. She sighed, turning to Tomoyo and smiling as her affectionate aura and glee resonated over her. She couldn't tell them not to go, for all she knew it would be safe. And with that, Saturday would soon roll around.

"You know, we can't face any more news like this. Things are getting sloppy around here. Daylight? The streets are closed off, when they get back here you send them in here, and they answer to me. Don't even talk to them about it, I don't want them thinking up some half-hearted excuse. I want to see them for myself; I don't want them to make people feel sorry for them."

"They'll have done it for a reason you know, we aren't like that. You taught them everything we know. And what we all know is that things are getting out of hand. It isn't being sloppy, it's fighting for survival, you can't expect them to stand there and die, and that wouldn't make them who they are. Who you taught them to be."

"Must you always be an insufferable, holier-than-thou know it all?"

"If you must know, yes, my dear cousin."

A grin broke over a man's features, his chiselled appearance and navy hair mocking the other in front of him. His cousin, his rough and steely cousin, with a heart of pure ice and a glare to match. He loved to wind him up, to 'get his goat', so to speak. Yet, he knew inside, that he would always listen to his "insufferable holier-than-thou approach."

"Get out Eriol, we have planning to do. Whilst you're at it, we're heading their way this weekend. And they aren't going to know it."

He winked, moving out of the room without a word as the other speaker moved to sit in a chair in the room, amber eyes flashing as he looked out onto the landscape in front of him. Sighing, a hand through chestnut hair, his eyes moved to the gate to the home, a car, beaten at the sides and missing two wing mirrors moved into the yard.

Explanations were about to be given.


	2. Entering Adulthood

**AN: Here's the second chapter… (: 100 views and 1 review, when did get so tight? Eeps, but thankyou to my reviewer anyway!**

**Disclaimer: Storyline, mine. Nothing else.**

**Chapter two: Nightlife**

They walked in the door, a word not uttered from their lips as they sat in the two plush chairs adorning the office. The man behind the desk sat, his eyes gazing still over the courtyard to where the car had pulled in, it's beaten exterior left, desolate in the middle of the grounds as he stood and stared.

The two men shared a look between them, a slight feeling of dread creeping throughout their bodies. Sure, he was their friend; their mentor and guardian when times were rough, but the man had a temper- a terrible raging dragon of anger that would erupt out of him any second.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE PLAYING AT?" A roar finally escaped Syaoran's lips as he turned, swivelling his chair round in an almost amusing evil villain way. But they both knew there was nothing amusing about this situation.

They shared a look between one another as amber eyes glared upon them, not sure if they should reply. Was it rhetoric? Maybe not.

"Look boss, there was nothing that we could do… They just came out of nowhere… We only went out for some juice! They must have followed us!" One of the men spoke, his young hair ruffled with his hand as his nerves got the better of him. He could stare death in the face each day, but Syaoran Li was different. It was like every word he said cut like ice through your soul, and his anger was not to be taken lightly.

"Well they obviously didn't come out of nowhere did they! You should have known, you should have kept an eye out, and you should have covered your back! Doesn't it cross your mind they might be following you? Are you that stupid? In broad daylight, you should have avoided this!"

The other man spoke up this time, his eyes almost pleading with their leader.

"Boss, you know we couldn't just back down."

Amber eyes glared, if possible more anger exerted through the amber orbs than before.

"I know you couldn't, but in future you damn well will make sure you don't go on these ventures and not keep your back watched. You mind your own business, and if you're not in our part of town, even if it's contested territory, you damn well keep your eyes alert and your back covered."

The men stared at their boss for another minute, keeping his eyes keen upon their faces for reactions. At least they had the decency to look surprised that he hadn't pulled a gun out from the mahogany draws next to him and blown their heads into next month.

"We understand boss." The younger man spoke, looking steadily at Syaoran over the desk, a hand fidgeting with the lapels of his jacket.

"Now, get out!" He bit back, glaring at them as they scrambled out of the office, his body swinging with the chair as he swivelled it back around and turned to a chest to the right. Reaching in, he pulled out an aged bottle, words flashing across the front from the silver calligraphy adorning it. Within a second, a tumbler had reached it, and the amber liquid plopped down into the glass, a tinkle as his ring knocked against the side of it.

"It's got that bad, you're drinking in the day again? I heard from the whispers down the corridor you were quite light on them. Suprising Syaoran, suprising."

"Fuck off Eriol, not interested." He bit back, taking a long swig of the drink and cracking his knuckles against each other. The other man stared, his dark black blue hair swaying slightly in the breeze from an open window. His eyes crinkled as he shifted his glasses down his nose, moving to take a seat, a grim smile adorning his face.

"It's nearly time isn't it, cousin. It's nearly time for this all to end. You're planning something, I just know it." His voice was softer now, talking to his cousin who had just thrown profanities at him in such an ordinary manner. He was used to it. The temper of Li was particularly volatile, and gave with it a foul aura that would surround him for days.

However, this time, it was different. He'd seen his dear cousin kill a man for less than what had occurred with the other two. But now, he had let them off with barely a tongue lashing. Something was wrong, and as the gang fights were getting hastier, faster paced, as the war raged on, he knew that his cousin was planning something, some way to finish this and claim the town as his own.

"I am, and you know that. We're going out this weekend, we're going to go out and get some information. Then, we're going to move from there, and we're going to end this as soon as we can so I can get back on with my duties and everyone can live their lives the way we should. I'm not letting anyone of my men be followed, we should be the ones on top, not fighting for it, we should already have it." A rare grim smile appeared on his face as he spoke, softer now between friends, barriers breaking down between them as one cousin showed his inner thoughts to the other.

"So we will Syaoran, we will. Things are just getting rather violent out there at the moment. It needs a wrap up, he's recruiting more and we aren't, we have more skills than them but soon they'll outnumber us so greatly that we won't be able to retaliate."

"I know Eriol, I know. Remember the meeting though, we're going out Saturday, we're going to get some information. Nothing more, nothing less. Get some of the girls too- their men are always up for sharing a bit of information over a double vodka and a female."

"I know Syaoran, I know. Your right hand man remember?" He smiled, pouring himself a tumbler of the amber liquid, feeling the burn as it went down his throat.

"Bloody heck, what percent is that? Oh, that's just foul. Whisky, really?" He choked slightly, a tingle working it's way down his spine as he shivered from the warming feeling and the foul taste. His drinking partner just smiled, pouring himself another glass as he lolled back in the chair, a comfortable silence blanketing the room.

-xx-

Sakura twisted in her bed, moving her head slowly as she registered the clock to her side. _17:00PM. _She sighed softly, moving from the bed as she clambered through the satin covers. It was her birthday, of which she'd spent the last two hours in bed. 18, and in bed in the daytime.

Layla had greeted her this morning early, with gifts adorning the sitting room to the west wing of the house, a warm smile on her face etched in sadness as today would be the day she left to explore the world with her husband. She had assured Sakura she would call from her 118 day cruise round the world, and that she was still at the girls beck and call if she needed. She just referred to it as a holiday, but Sakura had known that she was irrevocably changed now. That Layla was no longer her guardian, and she was an independent woman.

The girls had been there too, squealing in delight as Sakura had grinned at their faces as she opened presents, Tomoyo with her video camera shoved into her face as she had opened the gifts, each with a small smile and a laugh. Her parents had left her a gift too, one from the family vault that would have been passed to her upon her eighteenth birthday anyway, a beautiful emerald necklace to sit around her neck and match her eyes. She had cried receiving it, but considered to herself that she should be happy. They had brunched together and laughed, before Layla had bid her farewells with her suitcase and husband, smiling and crying before she left with her promises of contact. Then, the girls had dispersed home, leaving Sakura to catch up on some sleep she would surely miss tonight.

For tonight was the night of their outing, the big pole-vault into the real world as they ventured out into the streets of Tomoeda. Sakura was excited to say the least, looking forward to an evening of fun and the right of passage into her adult life that was about to begin.

-xx-

The wind blew through Sakura's hair, a waft of cherry blossom and gentle soap swaying into Tomoyo's nostrils as she sat next to her.

They had, of course, hired a limousine to take them to the club- one of the largest in the town, and apparently the place to be on a Saturday night according to two girls from their class. She tugged softly at her black dress, the chiffon material of it glittering from the glint of the street light as she attempted to attempt to hide more of her body. It wouldn't work of course, it was short enough Sakura was sure that it would not look out of place dressing up a doll.

"WE'RE NEARLY HEREEEEE!" Rika's voice shattered through the light conversation, her glass of complimentary champagne tipping slightly as she raised it in the air, a look of pure delight adorning her features. Chiharu next to her was singing softly to the music supplied as the rest turned to look out of the windows, winding through the streets.

"Aren't we in like… The _wrong_ part of town… If you get me…"

"Naoko, Naoko. ALL the clubs are in this side of town, you can't very well expect them to put them next to an elementary school can you!" She declared, pointing a finger at her friend with a fiendish giggle. Was it possible she could already be tipsy? Not that any of them were particularly skilled in the art of drinking, especially champagne, the bubbles fizzing and winking happily in the night.

Sakura sighed, tampering with her dress again. The neckline accentuated her curves, sitting just above her chest in a slight v in the middle. It ended just inches from her backside, which she was not enjoying. She felt exposed, to say the least. However, from the looks of things, she would feel a lot more relaxed with a bit more of the alcoholic poison that Rika was throwing down her neck.

"Come on girls, we're nearly there, drink up yeah?" Tomoyo's voice cut through her reverie as she held up the bottle, tipping the soft bubbles into their glasses and throwing back hers with a wince when she appeared for air, the others following suit, a grimace adorning their faces. Apart from Rika, who appeared to have taken a liking to the stuff- or the fuzzy fairies that were appearing in her head at this moment, she wasn't sure.

The limousine stopped, it's black doors shining against the bright red lights of the club, the neon sign hanging over the door looking more like something for a Broadway advertisement than if it should belong in a high street.

"Welcome ladies, to the Black Mamba!" The young latino man next to the entrance smirked at them, a small wink producing a giggle from Rika and Naoko as he did so, a charming smile enveloping his features as he beckoned them in.

"Why thank you… Sir" Rika purred, giggling like the schoolgirl she was as she produced her identification, one by one them pouring into the club.

Inside, the club was dark, the only light produced from staggered flashing strobe lights and other various neon signs depicting smoking areas and toilets, as well as bars. The music blared, the floor vibrating the room in an assault of movement as people bustled around one another, dancing to the beat, finding friends, grabbing drinks from the bar. The girls stood, unsure as exactly what was their next move.

"Let me guess, first timers?" A voice behind the group startled them, as they turned to find the man who had let them in.

"How did you know?"

"Blondie's ID say's it's her birthday, so one plus one my dears, makes two." He grinned with a wink, directing a jerk of his head at Sakura.

"Let me take you to the bar, free bottle of bolly for each of you when it's one of your groups birthday you know, and I doubt anyone in their right mind would pass that up." He ushered them to the bar as Sakura hung back to grab Tomoyo's hand, scared of losing her.

The girls graciously accepted their drinks, each being produced a bottle of champagne from behind the bar, uncorked and passed ceremoniously along until each one had in their hands a bottle. Sakura's mind idly wondered how this could be afforded, a bottle of champagne for each of a group member on their birthday. The amount of money would be too expensive.

"So, what do we do now…?" Chiharu spoke up, looking at the rest of them and taking a swig directly from the bottle, wrinkling her nose as the bubbles erupted in her throat.

In turn, they all looked to Rika. She seemed to perhaps be the most drunk, so for some reason they had appointed her as their drunken leader. Perhaps this would be a bad idea, but as she was loosened up compared to them, who cared.

"We, my lovely ladies, drink. Then, we will dance. Then, we will feel rotten in the morning. But before all this, we get shots and die. Deal?" She grinned, a whimsical smile adorning her features as she swivelled the bar chair around, the champagne bottle clutched between her legs as she pulled money out, producing two rounds of shots from the bartender and passing them down.

"GO!" Her voice raised over the beat of the club, throwing the fiery substance down their necks. Sakura felt her head fuzz slightly, the mix of alcohol in her system only affecting her slightly. But she knew what was coming; it would seem like Rika had some crazy ideas out of the classroom.

"GO!" Before she could comprehend another thought, she was robotically raising her arm and throwing another down her neck. It burned all the way down, as she winced at the burning aftertaste. Next to her she heard Chiharu and Naoko cough slightly, Tomoyo had already turned a bright pink.

"Right, now. We drink from these…" She held up the magnum of champagne," and we go dance. Lots!" A grin adorned her face, and Sakura mused for a moment she had never expected her friend to be so… Wild. It was quite a strange experience.

Taking a heavy swag from the bottle, she moved from the stool, her hand set in Tomoyo's as they wandered to the dance floor, clinking the bottles together and swigging as their bodies moved together under the strobe lights.

-xx-

"Syaoran, you sure they're not going to notice?" A voice whispered in his ear, his friend's glasses knocking slightly against his face as they moved to the edges of the club, their group surrounding them to listen intently to the conversation.

"Look, we're in no problem. Now if you're all going to stand there and act like we're playing ring-a-rosies, it's gonna look like there's something wrong, so listen up. Girls, split up, pairs of two, move around, dance, find a guy and get some information. Me, Eriol, Takashi, Hiru, Kero and Samaya will all be here, hopefully finding some prey of our own. You've got your guns as a last resort tonight, remember that. If you're found out, don't come back here; get out as fast as you can." The girls of the group nodded and wandered off, slipping away from the men.

"So we're just going to stand here, and expect groups of girls to come fawn over us… Sounds a plan to me…" Hiru sighed, his young features creasing slightly. Alright, they were good looking, but surely girls have a bit more tact?

"Trust me, they'll throw themselves over a man in here."

As if on cue, two girls walked over seductively, swinging their hips as they walked towards them.

"Hey big boys, haven't seen you around… Take it you're new, I'm Misaki" One of them said, her voice raised slightly over the music as she flipped her long blonde hair and extended a hand. Syaoran raised an eyebrow at Hiru, his eyes glinting with amusement at the stunned look on his companions face. Tonight was going to be a long night.

-xx-

Sakura grinned as Tomoyo spun her round like a child, squealing loudly as she did so, her world melting into smudges of colour and blurred lines as the group giggled, hands upon each other's shoulders as they attempted to steady themselves from falling off the towering heels attached to their feet.

"Give me… I wanna go!" Sakura grinned happily, extracting a cigarette from between the fingers of Chiharu, who was currently coughing like a lunatic.

"Where did you get these anyway, you don't smoke?"

"I thought it would be fun… You know, you get drunk, you smoke." Naoko replied, a giggle coming from within before turning into a rumbling laugh as Sakura nearly dropped the offending item, attempting to place it between her fingers in position.

"You know, it's funny, I've never ever wanted to do this, but now I'm happy, really happy, everything looks so fun!" Sakura squealed before taking a drag from the cigarette, instantly coughing like crazy much to the amusement of the other revellers stood with her.

It was a safe bet to say that the five girls were merry. More safe to say that they were drunk. Possible, even, to say that they were almost at the point that they were completely inebriated. At least Rika and Naoko, who seemed to have swigged the whole of the champagne bottle, gone back for shots, and sported some rather nice looking Italian men on their arms for the past hour before they'd managed to get rid of them to attempt a cigarette with the girls.

"Sakuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, you need to find a man!" Chiharu declared, clapping her hands together in delight as a smile adorned her face

"Yes! Tonight is the night girls!" Tomoyo laughed, swaying slightly as Chiharu's hand left her shoulder to clap, returning to the circle in the next moment. They giggled together, moving back into the club as Sakura said she wished to stay there a moment, the offending cigarette still twirling between her fingers.

She leant against the mesh that signified the smoking area, her eyes closing slightly as she felt the world spin. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to close her eyes.

She mused about their night, many men had indeed attempted to dance with her. She just didn't care. She wanted to have fun, not some slimy man covering her all night. Rika and Naoko were more interested in them than her, seeming to find it more amusing the more a man seemed to want to be their puppy dog.

"You've obviously never smoked before with the end on that thing have you?" A voice cut through her moment of contemplation as she moved to look at the owner. Her vision finally focused on a young man, a few years older than her, looking at her with inquisitive amber eyes, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips.

"Ugh…" She felt herself pale as she narrowed her eyes to see him better, his sharp features, chestnut hair and piercing eyes. He was breathtaking. In her drunken stupor, at least, and now she felt herself cherry a little. She looked to the cigarette in her hand, half of it was unflicked ash, the other unburned from the few drags that had been taken from it.

He laughed at her predicament, a glint in his eye of mirth as he looked her up and down.

-xx—

Syaoran looked at the girl before him, a mischievous glint in his eye. Sure, this girl was beautiful, but she was one of them. And by the looks of things, she was enough drunk to give him the information he'd need. He could charm a woman, he knew that, and she would be an easy target to manipulate.

He looked her up and down, and took in her beauty. It was a shame that she would be playing for his enemies. Perhaps she was significant to them, someone this beautiful would surely be used as a temptress as the girls from his side were doing now? Her hair fell softly in layers, at longest reaching the small of her back, her emerald eyes wide from no doubt copious amounts of alcohol, explained by the magnum of champagne sat limply in her left hand. She was indeed, absolutely tiny, like a small china doll, still a good few inches below him on the dangerously high heels she was wearing.

"You come here often then?" He said, gesturing his free hand around them at the club.

"Oh er, yeah. All the time." She replied, smiling meekly at him. She inwardly swore, why did she lie? Why was she lying to this beautiful specimen in front of her. Maybe perhaps he would think she was less of a child if she didn't disclose that this was her first alcohol fuelled outing… Yes… That would indeed look rather sad.

"I see. Not seen you around is all… You must work the other side of the city to me…" He grinned at her, looking down expecting an answer. He was in, he knew. He knew that if he pretended to be what she was, she might disclose information to him. He knew that if she worked west, she would assume he worked east. And visa vi for the rest of the areas of the city. He was working his way in to extract his information.

"I'm not a prostitute Mr!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, tumbling in a multitude of jumbled thoughts and words. She was sure, somewhere, in her drunken mind, that his eyes raving up and down her form and his ideas that she worked a 'side of the city' were an implication that she was promiscuous with her body. It didn't help that her dress rode so high up it looked more like underwear.

"Woah, Missy, I didn't mean that. I meant, you know, gang work." Syaoran's mind had run into overdrive the moment she thought he was asking if she was a prostitute, a speechless moment falling upon them before he spoke. She was perhaps a little too drunk to glean information out of.

"Oh, erm…" She shifted nervously under his gaze, as a small smile ran it's way along his face. She looked up at him. _Shit. _Her eyes moved from his in a swift gaze and she noticed something she had not before. Upon the girls backs, upon the mens arms, were tattoos. Shown proudly on their bodies, black mamba snakes, curling around themselves in inking's upon their skin. _Shit._

He stepped forward toward her, the man in front, who she was now sure was one of them. She was in a place full of gang members, one of the places Layla had told her not to go. Oh gosh, on a Saturday, in a club, drunk out of her mind, full of gangs.

Syaoran watched the girl in front of him, all of a sudden she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. What was with this girl? He followed her gaze as he stepped towards her, watching her face as her chest rose and fell quicker as she noted the tattoos on the bodies of the people around them. Then, and only then, did it click. He moved closer, she hadn't noticed, until he was next to her, looking over her shoulder and onto her back. Clean.

Sakura felt a wave of scent wash over her, as she looked up she saw the man leaning over her, his frame towering over her, the bottom of his neck near her nose as she smelled the soft spice and sandalwood of cologne. And she was terrified. She squeaked, moving backwards, before she felt his hands wrap around her upper arms in a sudden movement.

"Don't make a sound…" His voice came out, softly, head crooked down near her earlobe so that she could feel his soft breathing tickle the hair next to her ears. "You aren't a gang member, are you?" He felt her shake her head violently, trembling now under his hands. "Then I suggest, you stay away from those that are, young lady. Got it?" He felt her nod now, with added vigour as her body trembled under his hands.

Then as sudden as their moment had been, he had left her there, moved on, his cigarette butt on the floor as he vanished inside, his smell lingering in the air.

She stood, unknowing what to do. Should they leave? Was he warning her of trouble if she didn't? Her mind was fuzzy, confused almost, as she took a rueful swig of the bottle in her hand. What was going on? She had absolutely no idea- apart from her feet were starting to hurt. Stumbling inside, her eyes moved to her friends as she ambled over, her eyes still wide from her encounter with the mysterious brown haired man.

A voice appeared all of a sudden, to boos of the crowd, cutting out the music. When it spoke, the whole club fell into darkness, the voice ringing over them as some saluted, some just stood, still. Sakura clutched Tomoyo's hand, looking at her in fear.

"My precious precious people. I feel that perhaps it is time I spoke. I've been watching you all night, and now a little bird tells me there are some imposters in my Snake Pit. I think that perhaps you should find them" A slight ripped of talking followed the announcement from a man, his voice echoing around the walls of the room and through the speakers. Sakura's mind fell into overdrive; they were imposters? Oh god, they were going to die.

She felt Tomoyo freeze up next to her and leaned into their group of friends, her head bowed. "We're in a gang club, we need to get out of here. Now. Move slowly, towards the door, it's not far." She heard Chiharu intake a sharp breath of air somewhere to her left as she heard. She felt Tomoyo's grip harder on her hand, and started to move. Before she could move another inch, she felt a strong arm grip hers, yanking her to the side.

"Agh!" An exclamation made its way out of her mouth as she felt herself dragged to the side, unable, barely, to see in the plunged darkness of the club. She could here muttering around here, but it was just a low volume noise, nothing like the exclamation she'd just uttered.

"You, you don't have tattoos do you? I know you're not imposters, but someone's going to notice you, and they aren't going to believe you, you need to get yourselves out of here before the lights come back on." She recognised the voice, the familiar utterings oweing to the man who had cheekily winked and grinned at them as they had come through the door earlier. She nodded against his chest, and moved him out of the way, scrambling for the exit.

-xx-

Syaoran looked to Eriol, who in turn looked at him with an upturned lip. "Shit." He muttered under his breath, daring to breathe as the announcement went off. "We need to move, the girls will know to move." He stared into his friends eyes, not liking the look that they held. They were surrounded, and they knew it. And they'd probably barely got enough information to shake a stick at from the expedition.

He could hear murmurs across the club, most people were just standing around. Any minute, the lights would come on, and they would check tattoos. If they did, they were officially in for it.

They moved swiftly, winding in and out of people attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible towards the doorway. Nearly there, they stopped when he heard a screech from a girl to his right. Unable to ignore it, he stopped, feeling Eriol behind bump into him.

Sakura writhed under the man's grasp, huge, calloused hands gripping her wrist as she looked in terror to a man holding her arm up as if she were a prize, nearly pulling her off the floor.

"Fuck." The profanity had escaped her mouth before she could stop it, and she was pretty sure it didn't help her.

"Got her! This one! Saw her earlier, she's got no tattoo! Bet she's one of Li's undercover bitches!" He snarled loudly as the club stopped, the lights suddenly focusing on her and the offensive man, his spit glimmering out of his mouth as he spoke.

Sakura's eyes widened as she screeched in fear, writhing again, feeling his grip tighten.

"No, no, Mr, you've got it all wrong…" She could hear Tomoyo's trembling voice enter the room, piercing through the silence that now blanketed it.

"I know what you're like; you wolf bitches, always feigning something. Li send you did he!" The man was shouting now, his nostrils flared and his bicep adorned with the tattoo twitching ever so slightly. The crowd was closing in.

Syaoran stood, staring, almost rooted to the spot as he felt Eriol nudge him in the back, motioning for him to move, until his eyes lay upon the scene, hearing the man's rant. "They aren't… Are they…" Eriol's voice whispered in his ear, leaning into him. "No, they're not ours." He sighed into the silence, wondering what he could do.

"Syao, man, move, they're just kids, come on, we need to move," he felt a female hand wrapping her fingers round his. Lielle, the girl who had been hampering after his affections since he had met her, long straight black hair swishing behind as she tugged on his hand. But something in his insides started to squirm furiously as his eyes focused on the trembling girl he had met earlier, her face contorted into a mixture of emotions, her eyes looking ready to spill tears.

He looked to Eriol as if to ask what to do, his friend looking at him as if he was awaiting order already. Why should they save these kids? Going out, getting drunk in unfamiliar territory, it just wasn't their fault that they had come to this side of town, but something inside him was whirring; a juxtaposition of feelings erupting inside him that felt unfamiliar.

It had all happened within seconds.

A crash rang across the club as stunned partygoers were pushed onto the floor, an angry shout sounding off as the offensive man was suddenly flying across the floor, a bloody nose now adorning his features, blood dripping down his white vest.

Sakura felt herself being wretched from the man's grasp, larger hands setting themselves around her waist as she was uncouthly plucked from her position, yanked towards the door. Her world spun as she moved, a dizzy feeling creeping its way across her form as she heard Tomoyo scream behind her, somewhere close, as if she was following. Or being forced, as Sakura was sure she was.

_What's going on? Tomoyo, she's behind me? Oh gosh, what's happening? _Thoughts spun through her head as her emerald orbs failed to focus on the world. Her mouth failed her as she tried to speak, grimly opening and closing it akin to a koi carp ready for the catch.

Syaoran threw the young girl into the back of the car, watching as Eriol stuffed in the amethyst eyed girl she'd been with, the others shoving her friends into the next car. _What am I doing? _ Thoughts crossed his mind as he furiously revved the engine, aware now to gun shots ringing through the night as the car swerved from the lot, marking their escape, marking the sudden new cargo that they had in their possession.

Sakura grimaced, feeling for her head which she was sure she'd banged. Regaining slight composure, she sat from her position, which had somehow come to be her head lolled into Tomoyo's lap who sat next to her, a fearful expression adorning her beautiful features.

Creeping her hand from her own lap, she moved her fingers deftly over to Tomoyo's, grasping her in a cast iron grip as her friend moved to look at her, eyes wide and frightened.

_Who were these men? Were they about to die? Why did they take her from the club? And why in God's name wasn't she sober._

**AN: That's it for this chapter, probably update in the next few days! R&R! **

**Love and hugs, **

**Maria**


	3. Fear

**AN: Just gonna apologise… I nearly had this chapter done and dusted then my laptop decided to play hookey with me, so it's dead now. This is now written from my computer and shorter than I'd like because the keyboard is absolutely awful to write on. **

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing**

**Chapter Three: Ceasefire**

**NB: Even if you don't read AN, we're more from Sakura's POV than proper 3P here, just because it seemed more fitting for this chapter, or most of this chapter anyway.**

Sakura moved her palm back into her lap, relieving Tomoyo's damp palm from her own. The night was hurtling around them, buildings turning into soft blurs in the night as the dark car hurtled down yet another road, seeming to take forever to reach whatever destination it would finally stop at.

She faltered in her movement as she caught the eyes of the driver momentarily. His cold eyes did not warm at her frightened expression, moving back to the road as soon as amber married emerald across the rear view mirror. For a fleeting moment she had hoped he would speak and tell them the destination they were due to reach, or even soften that hardened gaze to make her feel less frightened of the situation they found themselves in.

In all truth, Sakura was terrified. Mind racing across every stratosphere and back as she listed what these strange men could possibly do to them, or what they would do to them when they reached wherever they were headed. Were they to kill them? To marr the streets with their blood as these so called 'gang types' did to each other? As Rosa had forewarned, as the news on the radio had knelled in every time the noon news arrived in the car?

She looked upwards again as she felt the car swing around a corner, slowly this time, with less urgency to the previous pace they had taken. Were they stopping somewhere?

The black car pulled up next to a building, no streetlights were visible yet she could make out from the headlights in the car what appeared to be an industrial area, grey foreboding buildings set against the night sky, corrugated iron shutters adorning their walls and blotting away the chance of any light entering, or perhaps anyone looking inside.

_They were going to die._

Sakura felt Tomoyo stiffen beside her, the knowledgeable beauty obviously feeling what Sakura felt inside, that sheer terror and sudden realisation. Cold water seemed to trickle down her spine as she shivered uncontrollably, unable to escape the look of fear etching itself across her features. Instinctively reaching for her friends hand beside her, the car came to a halt outside rather inconspicuous looking structure, grey walls the same as the others that they had passed, no shutters but a large metal door with a padlock and chain across the front.

"Li?" A voice broke through the silence, Sakura hearing the young man sat next to the driver break the silence that had blanketed the vehicle since the beginning of the journey, since the beginning of the nightmare.

"Hmm?"

His voice came as a hum, a slight question in his tone. He did not bark like he had outside the club, he almost sounded amused, undecided- distinctly like he was contemplating something. Their death maybe?

"What now?"

"Take them inside, take the one behind you, I'll get her friend."

Sakura shivered, once again the feeling of terror swallowing her being and seeming to spit her back out into a shaking mess. Tomoyo, she could feel, was frantic next to her, massaging her clammy palms in an effort to calm her trembling frame. The door opened and she could feel Tomoyo being pulled out by the driver as the passenger door opened, a hand resting itself on her shoulder and deftly undoing her belt with practiced fingers before she was slid off the seat and guided by the arm of the dark haired man who had sat in the passenger seat.

Sakura looked to the man guiding her, as if in a daze, to see his navy hair shimmer slightly in the last light emitting from the other car as the engine hum died into the night. He would be almost beautiful if he didn't happen to be an aid to kidnapping and possibly murder. But in a more, refined sense than his rugged chestnut haired companion who had behaved so differently previously to the eruption in the club.

"You don't need to be scared, he won't hurt you." His voice broke through her barrier, shaking her out of the moment as she looked to see his mercury eyes sparkling behind spectacle frames with a slight amusement. Somehow, his words comforted her, yet she knew that if all was fine, they would be back at home, safe and sound.

Finding her voice, she spoke softly, as not to alert the others that were now following them as the sordid door opened and they were ushered into a dark building.

"Then why am I here? Why am I not at home?"

The light flickered on suddenly, before the man could answer and bathed the room into light. Sakura turned to see her other three friends were now in proximity to them, flanked by further gang members to their sides.

The room was dank, a concrete floor and various chairs placed around the side of the room, each metal- almost like garden chairs. The light above was typical of that of a warehouse- the long, strip of it emitting an almost clinical glow rather than the soft light one would find in a home. The walls were unpainted, concrete breezeblock showing on the inside, marrying to the same coloured floor beneath her feet.

"Sit."

He spoke finally, the chestnut man suddenly giving a command to all in his company as the girls felt themselves being moved to the chairs that surrounded the area. The tension was thick, suffocating Sakura in her throat as she felt herself moved into a seat by the man who had assured her of her safety. Now, she knew she was correct not to trust in it. Daring not move her head to check beside her, she felt her chest relax as she felt the warmth of Tomoyo and Chiharu flanking her, and the deft plop of the others sitting next to them.

"I imagine you are wondering why you are here, of all places. I imagine you may even think that I owe you an explanation. The first thing I'm sure that I can get straight, is that I owe you nothing. However, I'm going to explain to you anyway."

Syaoran spoke, assessing the gaggle of females in front of him, each one staring straight forward, yet not into his eyes or face directly. The auburn haired girl from before seemed to tremble slightly as he spoke, he noted, her gaze directed not near him but now at the ground as she heard him speak.

"You are obviously not part of a gang, are you?"

"N…n..N-o-o…" Rika spoke, finally, her voice cracking under the tension in the room and hiccupping out of her as the result of the alcohol and terror concocting a storm inside her. Sakura inwardly winced at her friend's predicament, wishing to reach out and soothe her, yet feeling almost inadequate as at least she had been brave enough to speak up.

"We brought you here to keep you out of harm's way. We are certain at this point that we were not followed to this location, and it would have been unwise to take you to your respective homes in the event that we may have been followed by the gang who attempted to harm us, and by extension yourselves, back at the club. You are to remain here for an hour until we can be sure that it is safe to return you to your homes, and then you will be delivered there safely."

His voice held authority, and still none of the people in the room spoke after he did. He turned to Eriol, who sat lounging across two chairs, one arm slung lazily over the back of the other as he surveyed the room with quiet interest.

"You, take where they live, then decide who to take first. Take one of the city cars, it'll be less noticeable. I'll take the one who lives furthest last."

Eriol nodded at his friend, moving toward the girls to speak softly to them with a calmer voice than his companion. Syaoran moved, walking toward a door in the left corner and exiting the room quietly, leaving not a sound in his wake.

Sakura breathed out, unaware that she had held her breath for so long. She turned to see the other men talking to her friends, attempting to soothe the situation that had befallen them. She raised an eyebrow seeing Chiharu giggle slightly at something the man in front of her said, how was it possible she could feel any sense of enjoyment at this moment in time? No matter how much alcohol had been consumed, she was sure that she couldn't be further from even breaking into a smile.

"You know, it's free to smile."

Sakura looked up to see one of the men who had been in the car with the others before her, black hair softly falling in his eyes, half gelled up into some kind of style. His eyes were brown, darker and holding more warmth than those of his companion. His soft features were twisted into a friendly smile as he surveyed her, crouching down to her level to create a sense of comfort with the girl.

"I'm not sure what there is to smile about at this moment in time really." Her voice was quiet, full of emotion and hidden nerves threatening to tumble out and spill onto the floor in front of her.

"I'm Samaya. Samaya Laing." He held his hand out in front of her, which she took with some sense of abandon and a half smile at his attempt to make her feel more at ease. Her stomach, however, was knotted inside tighter than a hangman's rope.

"Sakura" Her voice held fast once more, tiredness starting to seep in her veins as she relaxed an inch more at his offer of companionship and apparent compassion toward her situation.

"So, where do you live?"

Time seemed to move slowly as small chat was made before the girls were to return home, Chiharu first and Naoko second as they lived closer. Sakura idly chat with the young man who had attempted to make her feel better, but she was in no mood for talking. Inside, she was still a wrecking ball of nerves and feelings teetering on the precipice, waiting to fall and tumble. She just wanted to return to the day before, to have never gone out to that part of town that night, and not to be sat in a dank room full of gang members.

As the numbers depleted, Sakura noted that the young men were also going home after they had returned her friends to their homes, each calling the next to assure them that the females were safe and it was their turn to take a car from the lot and go home for the night. How many cars were there?

Just as her and Tomoyo were left waiting, after the conversation with Samaya had truly expired due to her reluctance, the click of a door alerted Sakura to the fact that another was also in their presence.

Syaoran entered the room, the feeling of the ice biting at Sakura's veins as he returned to the picture. She had, in her disarray, vaguely forgotten that he had been on the premises and was the reason for their captivity. He looked at her, eyes bearing into her for a fleeting moment before walking over to the group, standing with his taught frame every inch the authority that he had been before.

"Time to go back, all of you, the coast is clear enough. Sam, Eriol, take the girl and go back. I'll take her." He flicked his head toward Sakura, shaggy brown locks of hair moving with his head as he did so, her veins icing over once more as she thought about being alone in his presence, now more sober, and now more terrified.

They stood to leave, Tomoyo hugging Sakura and whispering to call when she was home and that she'd be over in the morning for the rest of the day, her melodically smooth voice thawing Sakura's insides more than she thought it would be able to.

She followed obediently to a car outside, a black simple 4x4 that did indeed appear less suspicious than those that they had been thrown into earlier, she was sure.

_Did she sit in the back? The front? Wait to be told?_

"I assume you know how to open a door, don't you?" He was behind her, ushering her toward the front passenger side of the car with a slight hint of mirth in his voice. Silently nodding, she opened the car, waiting for him to clamber inside and sit next to her, the engine signalling that finally the strangest night of her life so far would hopefully soon be over.

The car pulled out, after the flash of headlamps had signalled the removal of Tomoyo and the others from the vicinity, entering yet another dark street before she could make out the blurr of lights before her in the distance of streetlights.

Finally, almost calmer, Sakura sank into the seat, daring not to look at the man next to her, only able to witness the occasional sight of his toned arm moving the gear stick from the corner of her vision.

Her head throbbed, now that the terror had almost abated, she could feel the pound of the alcohol and the memories from the club flooding back and taking over her body. The seat brought comfort, a warm sense of security that made her wish that it was where she had been all night, snuggled in somewhere warm and inviting.

"You know, you were reckless tonight."

His voice cut through her moment like a knife, a sense of authority returning to it as he had spoken earlier rather than the slight of mirth that had entered when he asked her if she knew how to open a car door.

"Excuse me?" Her voice trembled as it left her, eyes opening in a startled response at his sudden judgement.

"You heard me. Going to a club, full of gang members, as schoolgirls, you were reckless."

"Upon what authority do you make that judgement? What is it that gives you the right to say that we were _reckless? _Moreover, what does it matter that we are just schoolgirls?"

Her voice held bite this time, the simple statement winding the cogs of anger inside her head, mingling with her pounding head and tired stupor; she now felt the welling sensation fighting from inside her to be angry at this man. This man who had removed her from the club, who had took her and nearly caused her a heart attack of fright and kept her against her wishes; was now judging her for being reckless when it was obvious he was in a gang?

She heard him intake a sharp breath next to her, ready for a tirade directed at her.

"You were reckless, and you know you were, otherwise you wouldn't have been almost falling over with fear when you were caught and nearly sent like a lamb to slaughter."

"And what is it to you? Why did you bring us here? You could have left us, to be a lamb to slaughter as you so aptly seem to deem it. You took us from the club, into your care, you could have just ignored it- why make it your business!"

Her voice was raising, anger bursting out of her now like it had never before. Sakura felt the drip of sarcasm in her voice laced with the ice of disgust at the man, that he dared judge her so suddenly. That he thought he had perhaps done her a favour by taking her and her friends?

"They would have killed you!"

He was angry now, and she felt the car swerve to aside the kerb as they stopped, the engine still softly purring as he halted the car to glare at her, icy tawny eyes boring into furious bright green.

"And, pray tell, what is that to do with you?"

She was tired; she could feel it, the fight in her quelling slightly at the notion that this man had felt the need to save her life. However, after the night she had had mixed with the alcohol still somewhere rearing its ugly head in her system, she felt the burn of passion in her chest and the need to fight her corner against the arrogant man in front of her.

"You aren't one of them, you aren't one of us, and they would have broken you. It's what they do to people like you."

His voice was deadly quiet, and deadly soft in the night, a nearby streetlight illuminating the side of his rugged features as he looked at her with serious eyes, burning her down like a fire lit building.

"People like me?"

Her voice was soft now, quiet and small in her mouth so much that it dared almost not speak.

"You're innocent. They can tell. I can tell."

She stopped, looking at him with wide- eyes as she saw his expression not move, no amusement yet now almost no anger left. Just the quiet seriousness that was etched across his face as he surveyed her and her reaction to his words.

Sakura hung her head quietly, feeling the well of tears begin to erupt, unsure at how to respond at such an observation. She was emotional- an endless torrent of what had been ecstatic happiness to fear, to anger and now to quiet sadness that seemed to bury itself in her head and not want to transfer. The night had taken a toll on her and now she felt it all at once, consummating into an abundance of tears beneath her eyelids as she attempted to stifle a small sob erupting from her mouth.

Syaoran surveyed the small female next to him, unsure of what to do with a young crying female. His façade dropped slightly, replaced by once again that unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his stomach. What was he to do with a young crying girl anyway? He was Syaoran Li, cold and composed at all times. He was not going to sit in a car and comfort a crying schoolchild. Turning from her, he started the car and pulled down the street, listening to her soft sobs into her hand from her gently wracking body.

They pulled at her address, the navigation system bleeping slightly and removing the silence from the car. Sakura sat up, wiping her eyes from the mascara that had smattered around her lashes. She turned to look at Syaoran, her eyes surveying his form as he sat, waiting for her to leave the car.

"Thank you." Her voice was sincere, no hint of the anger that it had held earlier, or the fear. The slight tremble of her lip gave way to the fact that she was still upset, yet she attempted to hold her face composed and calm as possible.

His expression softened slightly at her puffy eyes, stained with black make up and her soft rose lips, damp from tears that she had shed that had fallen down them.

"It's alright."

He uttered just two words as she left the car, moving to jump from the height of the car as she plucked her heels from the foot well that had been taken off some time during the time at the hideout. When she turned to leave, she smiled slightly, yet it did not reach her emerald eyes that he recalled had sparkled so brightly when she was in the club previously.

She nodded, closing the door and turning to walk back to the door.

Impulsively, not knowing what was possibly going through his brain, as he watched the emerald eyes beauty walk away, he pressed a button on the car, an electrical buzz as the window wound down.

"Hey…!"

She turned, startled at the voice that had halted her progression as she saw him lean over to glean a better view of her.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

**AN: End of chapter three! Hehehehe I shouldn't have ended it there, but I'm glad this chapters over to get to the nitty gritty. It kind of needed to be here, but it was hard to write because obviously it's way too early to develop something between the two of them, yet something obviously needs to give way. Lots of Sakura feelings here, and it's quite annoying to have to jump between whats happening in her head to whats actually happening. Hopefully next chapter will be better and yes IT WILL BE SOONER! I apologise**

**Lots of love, **

**R&R**


	4. Recollections

**AN: So, maybe I went on vacation again :/ I've been out of the country so much this summer I'm starting to feel like my actual home is more like a vacation home. Ha! Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Still owning nothing**

Sakura awoke the following Monday, mind still reeling from the events of the past weekend. She had nor slept or ate properly, owing to the uneasy feeling that seemed to have settled in her stomach since that fateful night. She could have been killed, gone missing, kidnapped- anything.

Truth be told, becoming of age was now something that perhaps she thought she didn't want to do. Something she had so looked forth to in the conversations with her friends, yet now she felt as if she wished she hadn't- that she could return and rewrite the whole night; starting with never going to that club or touching a drop of the volatile liquid that she had so freely thrown down her throat and into her fragile body.

Moving out of her bed as the soft rays of sun cast down on her, she moved to ready herself for her day and school, and undoubtedly her friends and their theories on the whole night. She had avoided them since the weekend, calling Tomoyo and the others merely to say she was resting up for the weekend and to check they were all home safely. However, the events of the night were still fresh in her mind; the raw terror that had coursed its way through her veins as she imagined what she would actually have done if she was kidnapped.

0-0

School looked the same. Same red brick building, same high black fencing tipped with golden arrows. Sakura sighed, looking to her black pumps as she walked through the fortress like gates, at least one thing felt normal. Surely the same routine would gradually claw its way back into her life now.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo's soft voice cut through her notions as she turned, seeing the young girl hurrying toward her, all soft dark hair and gossamer skin. She smiled, welcoming the normalcy of the school greeting.

"How have you been?"

"Better. I can't stop thinking about that night Sakura, and I know you can't. Heaven knows why else you would drudge around an empty house for a weekend otherwise." Her eyes held concern, or perhaps a deep seated fear that Sakura knew had settled itself in the bottom of her stomach as well.

She paused before replying. It would do no good to lie to Tomoyo, they were in the same boat. But why was this concern present? Why was it that she could no longer feel like it was appropriate to go about her daily life as she was so used to? Perhaps it's because somewhere she felt that it wasn't going to happen. That the night that they had met such strange people had inexplicably and irrevocably changed their lives from now and furthermore. Was it fear? Most likely. Perhaps somewhere she felt that she had become involved in something that she couldn't get out of. Being seen with those men, associating in the wrong places, all from one night that was supposed to be fun.

"Something is wrong Tomoyo. I feel it. I just feel like this isn't the last of it." She shrugged, feeling as if when she did the weight on her shoulders plummeted with the small action, assaulting her small frame.

"Oh Sakura, I know. But maybe we are overreacting. It was a strange event to occur, hai? Maybe it is just the shock on us both."

_Oh Tomoyo_. Ever the rational one, sometimes her friends rationalising did nothing to secure her own thoughts. She could hear the tremor in her voice, the slightly uncertain waiver as the words came out of her mouth. With a small smile, she moved them on, talking about various things; clothes, shoes, homework- anything that would exempt a word from being mentioned about the past weekend in an effort to ease their minds.

0-0

Rain slid down the window pane as she moved her eyes back from the outdoors to the classroom once more. It had been falling since lunchtime, marring the sky and removing the soft sun of the morning. Moving her damp bangs from her face, she scribbled on the corner of her page as she attempted to concentrate on an equation. The point in such things had always mystified her, whenever would she need to use Pythagoras theorem with her life? She hated algebra, all the stupid little letters and numbers dancing and taunting her on the page in front of her.

It wasn't as if she was stupid, either. It was merely the fact that the grasp of mathematical equations escaped her interest, and her interest in everything since that night had wavered to the point of teetering off a cliff edge never to return. Yet as she sat, she was reminded of a pair of deep amber eyes in a rear-view mirror, looking behind. Amber eyes narrowing as they shouted at her, tears streaming down her face. Amber eyes that had softened every so slightly as they ap-

_BANG!_

Glass.

Everywhere.

The floor littered with specs of glass- shards gushing from the window panes as an assault of noises filled her ears into a crescendo of screams. A sudden rush of icy wind gripped her as she felt a body falling into hers, knocking her to the ground in a split second moment of madness as she focused on what was occurring around her.

Her classmates were on the floor, all of them. The teacher was crawling on the floor at the front of the class, a girl screaming in the back corner, Tomoyo following the teacher on hands and knees as more screams joined in.

Gunshots.

Loud and clear, ringing through the dull Monday din as Sakura heard more glass shattering down the hall. The windows were shot out of their panes, and Sakura was sure she could see blood flayed glass protruding from the leg of a boy to her left, perhaps what the girl was screaming at.

"_SAKURA! SAKURA!"_

Tomoyo's voice rang out in the screaming, other students frantically screaming for their friends, their parents, their life.

_What was going on?_

She felt a tug at her arm as she looked from her half-hearted crouch to Tomoyo, now in front of her and pulling her wrist, eyes wild and hair oddly sticking out at angles around her angelic face.

"Sakura! Come on! We need to get out of here!"

She nodded, mute from the noises around her. Her senses were closing in, ears thumping with the sound of blood rushing around her body, students screaming. Her nose was filled with the smell of the rain, and the iron stench that she knew only to be blood.

Following her friend to the corridor she met a sight that she was sure she would usually have had to blink at before she could comprehend it- but now was not the time. Students and staff from all classrooms were rushing around the hall, some crouching on the ground, some crawling, some running- one shared goal- to leave.

Tomoyo's breathing was heavy as she pulled Sakura along, raising them to a half stance as they stuck to the walls, trying to exit the building as others were doing. Before they had just reached the mat that signalled the exit be only a couple of metres away, she quickly pulled back on her friend, wrenching her arm toward her.

"Tomoyo! I don't know what's going on- but what if whoever did this is out there? What if we leave here, and get shot!"

Tomoyo's mouth bore no words, as obviously in her fight or flight moment she had not rationalised this though as she usually would. She simply stood, akin to a gold fish, pondering the next move.

"TOMOYO! SAKURA!"

A brown head of hair was working it's way toward the, waving and grappling to get past students. For someone so small, it took her not long to battle through the throng of students to the others.

"Rika! I'm so glad you're safe!"

"What do we do? Do we try and run to the car? Who do you think's behind this? Some people in my class are pretty hurt from all the glass. There are bullets everywhere. "

"I don't know, Sakura said that they might still be out there." She was biting her lip, always a bad sign. Whenever she bit it, she never actually knew what to do.

"Do … Do you think it's anything to do with this weekend?"

Both of the other girls faltered as they stared at their brown haired friends, emerald eyes moving to amethyst as the words sank in. Heart beats began racing. They had known it wasn't over, but surely this wasn't anything to do with their mistakes?

"Oh no…" Tomoyo gasped, finally coming to her senses.

"We're getting out of here; my car is parked right out by the gate. If we can get out there, we can drive to mine, and we can lock the gates. Then we find out what's happened here. "

They looked dubiously at each other before moving toward the door.

"On one, just run to the car."

"Three."

"Two."

"ONE!"

They flung themselves out of the door, rushing toward those metal gates that had signalled the return to a normal life that very same morning. Damp beads stuck to their bodies as they swiftly moved across the car park, thankfully the sound of gunshots not apparent to any of them as they did so. The amber flash of lights on the car opening was a welcoming sight as the three hurled their bodies inside, the key forced into the ignition before the back door had even snapped shut.

Sakura plunged the car into reverse gear, other students around them doing the same as the car park became littered with cars of fleeing people from the situation at the school.

"Go Sakura, hurry!"

"I can only go as fast as the car in front!"

"What if Rika is right?! We need to get out of here!"

"Stop panicking Tomoyo, we're on the street!"

Her friend's voice stuck in her head, _what if Rika was right? _No, surely. No-one was truly aware of who they were, a bunch of schoolgirls who had nothing to actually do with what they'd accidently happened upon on the weekend. She pressed her foot to the accelerator, taking the car off at speed down the road, sharply turning a corner that she usually would take at a snail's pace. She heard Rika relax slightly in the back, a soft sigh escaping her mouth. Perhaps they were worrying for no reason at all.

"Sakura, we're being followed."

_Shit. _

**AN: I feel a bit weird about this chapter, and I'm not sure why. I don't really like it, but this story is a slow burner, but it can't be that slow burn or I'll get way bored. So it's time for some action! Hope you liked it! R&R!**


	5. Hunted

**AN: So, another chapter. I don't know why. Like a bus, you wait for one then two come at once! I just felt like I needed to get this done. The scene was quite hard to write, but I hope it went okay. Read and review! I know you're all reading, so just leave me a little message eh ;) Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CCS**

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, the rear view mirror affording a glimpse of a dark four by four following them down the road, windows as dark as the night and at least two people seated in the car.

"… Maybe they're just driving down the road?"

"Don't be a moron, they're following us, Sakura, step on it!"

The car could have been just driving down the same road as them, right? Sakura looked around; they were down a little used lane that she often took when she was late for school- therefore most days. Traffic seldom used the road, let alone some strange looking large black car with what she could now see were rather burley and dangerous looking men behind the wheel.

She pressed a foot to the gas, glimpsing to see Tomoyo biting her lip once again, Rika in the back was frantically turning around every couple of seconds as if they may just vanish out of thin air. The tyres screeched as she flew round a hairpin bend, her silver vehicle less apt at sticking to the road than the large machine barrelling along behind them. The wet road lay before her, eyes frantic as she attempted to drive at speed like she had never done before.

"Sakura! Take the turn!" Rika's voice shattered through the tension in the car as a left came towards them, the car once again shrieking on the wet road as the deftly span them onto the new expanse of street.

"They're still behind us! They must be following us- oh wha-SAKURA!"

Tomoyo's voice turned to a scream as her friend looked around with shocked eyes, sure enough the man in the car behind had rolled down the passenger window, clambering out of his car with an object that made her eyes widen like saucers.

A gun.

"SHIT!"

"SWERVE!"

The first bullet went off with an earth shattering racket, the clamour of the screams of the schoolgirls in the car following. Sakura swerved the car, narrowly missing losing the mirror from her left side.

Sweat was now pouring down her brow like the girls in the back; she was surprised she wasn't screaming along with them, Rika now curled in a foetal position on the back seat, barely supressed by her rear seat belt. Tomoyo had ducked into the leather seat next to her, eyes wide with fear and tears spilling down her cheeks as she screamed. Perhaps it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins that was preventing her from just stopping the car and hoping the worst would pass, like when a storm brewed and she hid under the duvet when she was younger.

Hedges were flying past them, the road hurtling behind them as she covered more distance in the car, her foot permanently glued to the pedal as she thought of only the survival of her and her companions. She needed to think, they needed to lose them.

"We should head for the police station!"

"We're miles out Sakura! We need to get anywhere they can't get us!"

"Well anywhere with a road they can!"

Silence blanketed the car once more as Sakura looked behind her; the man hanging out the window was being thrown around by the sharp bends of the lane. Surely he couldn't attempt another shot at them if they kept barrelling around these corners, surely they would be off the lane soon and somewhere so public they may drop off or be lost in traffic.

"GET DOWN!" Rika's voice rang out once more as the explosion from the firearm was heard again, slicing through the rainy day and the silence in the car.

A crash sounded as Sakura screamed, losing that mirror that he had just missed last time due to her swerving. Her reactions weren't quick enough this time, the mirror flying off the car in a splay of fragments as Tomoyo swished to duck and avoid the flecks smashing against the car window.

That was it, they were done for. Sakura felt the sting of tears in her eyes, the creep of liquid rolling down her cheeks. They were going to die. For the second time in nearly as many days, her life felt like it was going to end. Yet this time, they weren't being kidnapped. They were being hunted.

But, surely it was all dependant on her actions now? Her friends needed to survive. They had families back at home; they had people waiting on their return. This was their entire fault for going out that stupid night, for becoming embroiled in something that they had no possibility of recovering from without consequence. Then they flashed in her mind again, those amber eyes. Surely, they would help them? This was their fault.

An explosion rang through the air as Sakura was brought back to reality, the cold wind of the day suddenly rushing through the car as Rika and Tomoyo screamed once more. She ducked slightly, just able to see the road as a wave of glass flew inside the car from the back window as it shattered and a bullet landed in the dashboard, wedging itself in the leather.

Screams sounded from each girl as the water and glass embedded itself everywhere, Sakura could make out Tomoyo shaking herself off from the shattering glass, two cuts adorned upon her bare shoulder.

"RIKA!"

Sakura turned slightly, Rika was sitting up, holding her arm as a shard of glass protruded from it's upper. Sakura felt sick, the smell, and the sight. Blood had never been something she was particularly good with, and being in such a close proximity to it for the second time in the day made her stomach curl and flip as the reality of the situation crashed over her like a wave once more.

"Rika, are you okay?!"

Her shell shocked friend only nodded in response, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as she uttered to herself quietly, inspecting the wound before bringing herself to brush other pieces of glass from around her person.

"We need to get out of her Saku. We need to."

Her voice was quiet, like a mouse, as Sakura saw the lane end nearing. She could feel a searing pain in the arm that was attached to the gear stick, and was sure there was a small gash on her cheek from when she had turned slightly at the explosion of glass.

She pulled toward the junction, mindful of the passenger behind pulling back out of the window with a gun. Her mind was racing, her head was spinning, and all she could think of was that she needed to get her friends out of this situation, preferably alive.

The junction neared and without a thought she threw the car around the corner, swerving at an oncoming car as she ventured out onto the dual carriageway. She knew where they were; she'd seen in in the news that week before after a gang shootout there. She knew that they definitely weren't any closer to being safe.

"SAKURA, GO! HE'S STUCK AT THE JUNCTION!"

Her foot hammered to the pedal once more, swerving in and out of the mid-afternoon traffic as she tried to free them from the chase. Tomoyo was frantically updating on the situation next to her whilst attempting to soothe Rika, who had gone paler by the minute and was still crying her eyes out.

The car finally pulled from the junction behind as they were attempting to flee, perhaps a quarter of a mile down the dual carriageway as it swerved out, picking up speed like a rocket from a launcher. Sakura's mind blanked as she ran a red light, more traffic swerving out of her way- if she stopped, they'd be dead within the minute.

"Where am I going?"

The whisper clawed its way from her throat, her own voice sounding foreign and gravelly in the frantic atmosphere in the car.

"We're far from the police station… About 6 miles… We need to get there. Or somewhere safe."

"Currently I think my definition of safe has definitely got the incorrect meaning. Think Tomoyo!"

"You have gates… Go to yours? We're a few miles out, but not that many. The gates will close, we'll call the police from there?"

Sakura's mind raced as she thought of how to get home from where she was. The people on the streets were fast fading at the speed of the car, and she took a second to ponder how this must look on the outside. Three schoolgirls in a beaten up car driven as if by someone who had escaped an asylum, followed by another that was trying to kill them. She was sure they'd be in trouble for this.

Taking a left, she swerved around another corner, the other carriage fast approaching them now at an almost neck breaking speed. Then suddenly, she caught sight of something that made her eyes water and her insides drop. Another vehicle had joined the chase.

"THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!"

Simultaneously, the other two turned to see another car, speeding towards the other one, and to them. Another pair of men were barely visible in the car as a back passenger reached around for something, aiming at the car.

"Another gun!"

In the middle of the street? Surely, it would be too dangerous. Sakura shook her head- of course it was dangerous! These people didn't care, they were dangerous! A whimper beside her informed her of her best friends increasing fear, a wail from the momentarily alert Rika signalling her distress. They were outnumbered and out skilled; how could it get any worse?

A shot sounded behind and without thought Sakura slammed the car to the side, thankful of the carriage having cleared slightly from the apparent situation going on. A bullet pinged at the metal on the side of the car, ricocheting off with fragments of silver paintwork in its wake.

"Shit, shit, shit."

Her mantra of swearwords soothed her slightly, allowing a glimpse of the fear that was now itching to escape from her as once again she felt the sting of tears. Her head felt droopy, strangely, as if she were tired and needed rest. She glanced over her shoulder and emerald eyes widened as she finally caught sight of an offending piece of glass wedged in it. How had she not felt it? Perhaps the adrenaline was finally wearing off, and her body and her mind suddenly felt completely spent. Perhaps this was the end; if she lost concentration now, she hazarded that it would never return.

Swerving once more she recognised a street that she knew would lead her home, thinking momentarily that she would now be entering a residential area. She dare not spare a thought of the destruction that had probably already been made in the wake of such a mess, or that there may be any on the family occupied streets that she was about to go through.

Cherry blossom petals littered the windscreen as her wipers flickered the rain from the glass, affording Sakura more vision as the rain began to become heavier now, the back of her neck damp from the back window and the clouds above them taunting her, knelling in what could be the end of her life.

Another shot went off as she once again swerved the car, a clunk sounding as she was sure it had hit the boot of the vehicle. She knew she couldn't last much longer, fatigue suddenly wearing her down as she looked back.

Another car.

Three car's behind them now, guns out of the identical previous ones. However, this third car was different, she noted. A dark car, all the same, yet smaller and sportier looking.

"Fuck. A sports car!"

The Mercedes hummed underneath her as she drove, as if agreeing silently that although it was giving her everything, it couldn't compete with the machine that had now joined the chase.

Tomoyo had now begun to openly ball, feeling the effects that Sakura was sure she was feeling. The tiredness, the impending doom, the absolute fear.

Then, as Sakura waited for the car to zoom toward her, something caught her eye. A man was hanging out of the window of the sports car, yet something about him jarred her. Deep navy hair and glasses.

"TOMOYO! IT'S THE BOY! THE BOY WHO TOOK YOU HOME!"

Could she dare think that he had come to their aid? To save them? That surely they were against whoever was chasing them- why would their men chase them when they had returned them safely home the other day.

"Eriol!"

Sakura watched tentatively, eye's flickering from the road to the other car as he aimed his gun and the unholy noise sounded once more, yet this time, aimed at the new car that had joined the chase on the carriageway. The car span out of control as inside she dare let off a silent thanks to above, hoping that they were there to save them.

One down, one to go.

Sakura swerved a corner just as she glimpsed the sports car pulling toward the first car that had been chasing them, fully aware of how close they were now. She could hear the roar of the engine of the large black car, as well as the fury of the sports car as it careered toward them.

She was sure, that in time to come, she would say she felt it before she heard it.

Her car swerved- a pop sounding in the silence of the tree lined street as her tyre was pierced with a bullet from the SUV. Frantically, she grabbed the wheel, the car suddenly spinning out of control in a 360 degree motion as she fought to keep it on the road. She could hear the screech of metal as the tyre corroded away, the screams of her friends, the ungodly scream that was coming out of her mouth.

Another loud bang was heard as she realised that the black SUV was now also hurtling out of control, towards them.

"TOMOYO, RIKA!"

Her voice was high, pitched like a soprano hitting that one elusive note. The next thing that she was faintly aware of was the black car throwing itself into them, and the sound of such a bang she was sure she'd never forget. If she ever woke up. For all she knew, everything was now black.

**AN: Stay tuned guys :p Til next time!**


	6. Reckless

**AN: Another chapter! I'm getting better at this updating. I actually wrote this like the day after c5 but I thought I'd give a little break in between! Keeping waiting ;) Already writing the next one too! Which should hopefully be finished when I post this. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed this story, particularly Fashion Fairy 26 & maniikuu! Keep reviewing everyone and remember to stay tuned!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. **

Somewhere along the line, Sakura became sure that she had died. Her surroundings were black, pitch black and silence coveted her like a lover. She felt… nothing. She attempted to move, but she was just stuck- as if existing merely in the dark caverns of her mind. Or death? Which was it that she was stuck in?

Her vision moved, swimming, as she made out a figure in the foreground. "Don't drive like that again, 'Kura, you know it's no good for you." The figure spoke softly, and she could make out a tall male, dark hair and a soft look upon his face.

"Touya?" Her voice came out easily, the surprise etched into her words.

Her brother merely nodded, and she felt tears prick her eyes and roll down her cheeks as she felt a rushing forward toward him. When she did so, he merely stepped back, moving away from the embrace she wanted to give him.

"You can't stay, it's not your time. I love you, monster."

She cried harder, letting out a small shriek as she felt her vision begin to swim, the darkness consuming her once more. Then she felt it, she felt her body being shaken, a voice in her ear as she was roughly pushed from wherever she had been to the cold harsh reality that was her life.

"Sakura! Sakura!"

That soft voice, that friendly and soothing tone that perhaps a mother would give a child. Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo? I'm alive?" Her voice croaked, throaty and gravelly from the lack of use. She opened her eyes, emerald swimming with unshed tears and a soft moan escaping her throat as her head suddenly felt like a pile of bricks was pushed onto her.

"Oh Sakura, I've been so worried!" Her friend gasped, clamouring onto the bed that she was laid upon. _Bed?_

Sakura looked round, body stationary but eyes wild as she looked around. Somehow, she was in a bedroom, dark wood furniture splayed before her eyes and royal red carpet and drapes upon the cherry wood bed she was laid in. She became frantic for a second, moving her arm to pull herself up as she realised she had no idea where she was. Was she still dreaming? What was this?

Sensing the look of bewilderment on her friends face, Tomoyo spoke.

"Oh Sakura! The car, it crashed right into your side. Me and Rika … We weren't hurt as badly as you. Well, Rika was a little out of it for two days… But you, oh we were so worried Sakura. The car hit the side where you were and… It didn't look good Sakura…" Tears began to stream down Tomoyo's face, her voice breaking with each word she uttered, ending upon a small whisper as she bent down to stroke auburn hair, lacing it between her fingers as if checking that she was real.

She suddenly remembered, the car hurtling toward her, the sound of the crash and the impending doom she felt. So if she was alive, where was she?

"Where am I, Tomoyo?"

Her friend looked shifty for a moment before she spoke, eyes darting towards the doorway. What was going on?

"They saved us, Sakura. We've been here ever since. Rika only looked better yesterday and I was so worried about you."

"Who? Don't talk in riddles!"

"Eriol, and the others. Sakura they saved us. Pulled us from the wreckage… And brought us here. I'm not entirely sure where we are… But it's a big house. And there are tons of people here. I think this is where they live, their gang, you know."

Sakura's eyes flashed in fear once more- they had been brought to another of the gang hang outs? Oh no, for sure they would now never get out of this life. She proffered another glance around the room, once again taking in the decadence of it all. It didn't look like a gang hang out, it certainly wasn't as seedy as that strange grey building they had been brought to before.

"What day is it?"

"Thursday, Sakura."

"Oh." She'd been unconscious for three days? No wonder her voice hurt and her head felt like the bowels of hell. Her body felt sore, unpredictable and shaky. She looked down at herself, groaning as she pulled herself up to rest upon the headboard and take in her surroundings for another time. Her arms were flecked with small cuts and bruises, her shoulder bandaged awkwardly as possible, the faint dab of blood peeking out from underneath where the glass had embedded itself. Moving her hand, she felt her arm scream in pain and looked down to another bandage adorning her arm, stronger this time- had she broken her arm?

"You've fractured it. It's not broken. It'll heal, in time. You've got quite a few cuts, Sakura… And you hit your head, pretty bad. You need to be careful."

Her mouth formed a small O as she looked toward her friend, leaving her hand to rest by her side.

"Why didn't they take us home? To the hospital? Who fixed me up Tomoyo? When are we going home?"

Her friends expression turned pensive for a moment, looking to answer the sudden bout of questions that were fired at her.

"Sakura… We were in a gang chase… It wasn't safe for them… Or us for us to be just left in a public hospital. There's a man here, medically trained… I changed you myself, and to be honest Sakura, I don't even know. I've slept in the room next door and spent my days next to your bed and Rika's, just a few light chit chats with the others. I don't know what will happen now."

It felt as if a stone had dropped in her stomach, creating larger ripples that flew through her body. Would they let them go home, after being in the lion's den? Would they do something to them- keep them here as prisoner? Be owed for saving their lives?

Her thoughts were cut as she looked down at herself, Tomoyo had indeed changed her. Instead of her uniform, a loose fitting grey t shirt hung around her form, as well as some smaller shorts that fit flush against her skin. She could see her knees, covered in bruises and her legs, smattered with small cuts just like her arms.

"Tomoyo, help me up… I want to get out of here."

Her friend looked dubious, and furrowed her brow.

"Don't you think you should go back to sleep? Sakura you might hurt yourself."

"Just get me out of this bed; at least I deserve to know where we are."

Tomoyo moved, rounding the side of the bed to stick an arm out to help her. Sakura noted with a pang of pain that she had a bandage on her arm too, the opposite to the one she was sticking out to aid her. Feeling bad for putting her friend under pressure, she lightly grabbed her rather than giving her the full weight of her and pulled her out of bed.

Her knees shook from the lack of use, threatening to give out as she stood precariously for the first time in three days. Looking to Tomoyo with a nod, she guided her around the bed, uncaring of her apparent state of undress.

"What are they like?" She asked as they nearer the door, Tomoyo using her free hand that wasn't supporting Sakura to open it as they walked into the hallway. Once again, the dark wood and decadent décor faced her, various portraits adorning the wall and gold vases atop tables as they moved down what seemed to be as long as her school corridors, filled with various other doors.

"They've been nice. Eriol is nice, he pulled me out of the car. There are a few others, I recognise them from the club, they were all quite friendly. We don't talk much, and when we do they don't discuss… Stuff that they do. Then there's the guy who took you home after the club..."

Her friend's voice faltered as she looked to her, a small frown adorning her soft features.

"He's mean, to everyone. In fact, he's a complete ass."

"What do you mean?" Surely it was bad, Tomoyo never verbalised dislike openly for anyone.

"Told Eriol he should have left us, Sakura. Told them all that they'd have been better off leaving us to it…"

Sakura felt jarred, recalling when he had apologised to her when he made her cry. But then, she remembered his fierce face and sharp features when he had shouted at her, and a shudder thundered through her body as she thought of him. She knew he was mean, cruel, and callous. Of course he would be, in his gang world that did not fit with her life. Yet, he had apologised in what she thought was a sincere manner- but now wished that perhaps she had died?

"Li is his name, hai?"

"Yeah, never around much. Hopefully not around today; he's always in such a foul mood. Had a shouting match with one of the girls who's supposed to be his family yesterday, I think it was about us. She's nice enough, really friendly. Perhaps one of the only people who relaxed me about being here. "

Sakura hummed slightly in response, her head beginning to pound with the effort of speech. They rounded a corner and she saw some stairs appear, frilled with a red and gold runner down the cherry wood. Was everything in this house made to look expensive?

Sure, Sakura led a privileged life. But there was privileged, then there was this. It looked like a castle- all old style and not a thing out of place. How could a gang live in such a place? Surely there should be a floor littered with heroin needles and people sparring in the middle of the dwelling?

They stumbled slightly on the stairs, emerging in a reception room of sorts as they took a left. Sakura could see various seating scattered around the cavernous room, a few people littering them.

"Tomoyo, I see the mysterious girl is awake." A voice filled with mirth spoke from the sofa near them, and Sakura recognised at once the dark hair and glasses, eyes behind them laughing slightly as he spoke to her companion.

Sakura noted the slight blush on her friends cheeks as she smiled back sheepishly, nodding as she set Sakura down on a plush chair across from him. He was sat next to the man she had met before- Samaya? Yes, that was his name. She was sure of it. His brown eyes searched up and down her form before settling on her face, a lop-sided grin adorning his features.

"I imagine you are hurting quite badly, quite a crash we saved you from the other day."

Her eyes widened, he had been driving the car then? He was the one who saved them as well then, she owed her life to these men, even if they were part of some strange underground world that she was sure was on her checklist to be kept away from at the next available moment.

"Thank you… I don't know how to thank you, you saved our lives." Her voice was croaky once more and he pointed to a bottle of water on the glass coffee table, and she gratefully moved it to her, sighing in satisfaction at the cool water trickling down her throat.

"Thank you."

"Is this girl stuck on the thank you button? I didn't know she got broken that badly?" His voice was teasing, and his eyes lit up in mirth. She allowed herself to ease into a smile, listening to idle chatter between Tomoyo and the man next to her. Her head still throbbed slightly, and she could feel her body protesting at being away from the confines of the bedroom.

Her mind however, was racing. Sure, they were being nice to them. But what about going home? What about returning to their everyday lives without the threat of something like the other day occurring? Oh- the school!

"Tomoyo! Have you heard anything about the school?"

Feet shuffled against the floor next to her, lilac trained toward the floor.

"People were badly injured; the authorities don't know who was behind it… They shut for the rest of the week, and next, they're investigating, some of the teachers are apparently refusing to return. I spoke to the principal on the phone yesterday, but most it's being covered by the news. They're having a police investigation as we speak… But nothing appears to have been said about what happened with us. Not a word."

Sakura frowned as she looked to her. Surely something would have been said? Perhaps they deemed a gang car chase less important than a school being nearly blown to pieces. She felt a pang of sorrow in case anyone she was close to had been hurt and her mind twirled to Chiharu and Naoko.

"Chi, Nao? Are they alright?"

Tomoyo nodded quickly, "I called them, yesterday. A boy in Naoko's class got hit, in the shoulder. Good job he was on the football team and pretty muscly I guess." She shrugged as she finished, noticing the other two were watching them closely.

"Uhm, can I ask something?" Sakura said, breaking the sudden hush that fell between them. Samaya nodded, looking at her expectantly. She was sure they were waiting for a question that she was obviously going to ask.

"When can we go home?"

Eriol looked thoughtful for a moment before putting a hand toward Samaya to prevent his answer.

"It's up to Li… We don't plan on keeping you here, don't worry. It's just not very safe for you at the moment… Out there. We're still trying to figure out how they found out who you were, and we aren't sure. But you can really just go home when you're better, if you so wish. We don't plan on keeping you against your will." He finished with a wink and Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as he said they could go home.

"Thank-"

"Told you she was broken!" Samaya laughed, as she blushed, realising she was about to give her thanks once more. She giggled slightly, before feeling weary once more.

"You know, I think I'll just go lie down, if that's alright? Then we can get out of your hair afterwards?"

"You need a hand?"

She shook her head at the girl at her side, pushing her good arm down onto the soft as she stood, slightly wobbling. She caught a look of concern on her companion's faces before smiling and giving them a thumb up before moving out of the room, attempting to remember where she'd been before.

Reaching the stairs, she felt her head rush slightly at the ascent, grabbing onto the bannister as she breathed, eyes squeezed shit as a wave of pain flew over her. _It'll pass. _A moan escaped her lips slightly as she opened them again, re-adjusting to the light once more as she heaved her body up. She felt sore, weak and dehydrated to the extent that she wasn't bothered about flying out of the door as soon as possible- she resigned to the fact that it would do her no harm to have a small sleep.

Moving up toward the top of the stairs, she faltered. Which corridor had she come down? She looked to the right and the left, sighing as she realised they both looked the same. Moving to the right and hoping that she was correct, she carried on down the corridor, her head pounding with every movement she made. Stopping against a door frame, she held her hand above her to the wall, steadying herself as she felt the fatigue thump over her. Moaning again, she felt weak her legs now shaking under her slight weight, suddenly feeling as if her upper body was made of lead.

She opened her eyes again, realising she was indeed in the wrong corridor. This one had fewer rooms, and despite the corresponding decoration she knew she was in the wrong place. Moaning again at the thought of trying to find her own room, she whimpered as she tried to shake her head to focus.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The voice snapped her out of her moment, opening her eyes in a flash to see a large figure stood before her. _Him._

"I… I… I took a wrong turn." She offered meekly, attempting to compose herself despite the pressure building in her head, threatening to teeter her over the edge.

"You did, get back to your room."

His voice was sharp, his frown evident across his features. He would be almost beautiful if he didn't sound the way he did, chiselled features and deep, soul searching amber eyes. His frame was clad in a simple back t-shirt and dark jeans, broad shoulders enveloped in the tightness of it.

She simply nodded, not trusting her voice as she moved herself around to exit the corridor, her legs now shaking furiously, her mind cursing inside for letting a stranger see her like this. A stranger who wanted to leave her to die. She felt angry as well as upset with this thought, momentarily removing herself from her body as her thoughts took over. Suddenly, without warning, her left leg gave and she sprawled across the floor with a cry, tears pricking her face as her battered body fell.

She heard him move behind her as she opened her eyes, his figure crouched next to hers now, and looking down at her with an unreadable expression- did he look angry? No, surely, how could he be angry? Why was he not helping her up?

"What did I tell you?" He simply spoke at her, not bothering to help her up as she lay, vulnerable on the floor in front of him.

"Excuse me?"

"You were reckless. And they broke you."

Her eyes widened as she felt a sob wrack her body in pain, but her mind was screaming. She was laid on the floor, helpless and in obvious pain, and all he could do was stand above her, chastising her?

"I was not reckless! I was at school! This is not my fault!" Her voice came out in a wail, tears spilling down her cheeks as she looked at him as defiantly as possible, her vision swimming slightly as her head felt as if she were on a merry go round.

"Look at yourself then, tell me you weren't."

"How can this be my fault? How was I meant to know this would happen! Get away from me! You wanted to leave us to die!"

Her voice rose with unquenched anger, like a fire roaring inside her. Blood was pounding in her ears as she cried out, the tears still falling down her face.

His face slipped for a second, a shocked expression befalling his features as something flashed across his eyes. He seemed to crouch down even further, grasping her wrist in front of him. She cried out in pain as he did so, and he seemed to realise her pain as he let it go, grasping the other and wrenching her up from the ground.

She stood still as he tugged at her arm, presumably to remove her from the vicinity. Maybe even the building. Maybe he was going to throw her out on the street and leave her to find her way home. The uncouth bastard.

"Let me go!"

"Just shut up, stop being a child."

Her heart hammered in her chest, how dare he speak to her like that? How dare he?

"You should have left us to die then, as you wanted! Leave me alone, get off me!"

Her legs threatened underneath her as she felt her knees buckle under the weight, her body like a lead weight once more. Bracing herself for the impact, she was stunned as it never came. His hands were around her knees, her body thrown slightly over his shoulder and flush to his body as suddenly she was in his arms.

"GET OFF ME!" She cried, wishing she had the energy to kick and scream like she wanted to. He ignored her, rounding the corner with her traumatised frame as they did not descend the stairs, yet merely moved toward what she assumed had been the room she stayed in.

The door clicked open and she saw the room; the unkempt bed, the same drapes she had awoken to only what seemed like moments before. He placed her on the bed, softer than she would have thought possible and stood over her, foreboding with his large figure staring at her, arms crossed and eyes ablaze.

"You should know that in my house, in my clothes, in one of the beds that I own, you should treat me with some respect. I never said you should be left to die. I said you were to be left alone. You aren't part of this. So whatever cross communication issues we have here are done with. Stop acting like the child you are."

His words were vapid, his glare fixed upon his face. A tremor ran through her body as she felt the anger radiating from him, and for the second time in as many of meeting him, she felt like a child. She had felt guilt at throwing a fit previously when he ended up apologising to her, but now she felt out of her depth in his presence, fearful of what he was going to do next.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, glancing up at him once more before finding a threat in the bed sheet that had become completely intriguing to her.

"Get some rest." His voice had softened, and she looked up to him again, his arms now uncrossed and plunged into his pockets as he looked down on her, almost warmly.

How could he change his demeanour so quickly? As if bipolar, he had switched from harsh and cold to this almost warm person. Was there something wrong with this man? What was his issue. Even Tomoyo didn't like him- which was always a bad sign. If he treat everyone as he had just treat her, she was sure that she wouldn't like him either.

"Why are you like this?" Her voice came out before she could stop it, a tumble of words as her eyes widened and a hand flew to her mouth as if she could take back what she just said.

He looked stumped, staring at her like she had Tomoyo earlier in the day.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing"

"Answer me, Sakura."

She looked up at him, shocked that he knew or even recalled her name. He had a strange expression on his features, as if he was confused as to what she was asking. But the bite was back in his words, expecting an answer. Of course, he would probably be used to getting his own way. He seemed to order everyone else around, so it was obvious that he seemed to believe it the same with everyone he met.

"You're so mean, and then you're nicer. I don't understand you, and I've only ever met you twice." Her voice was soft, barely a whisper, as she once again enthralled herself with picking the spare string marring the bedding, daring not to look at him.

"The way of the world, get some rest."

His words were soft again, and she felt a pang in her heart at asking him. He sounded almost hurt, unlike the authority that was previously in his speech. Then, without another thought, he was walking out of the door, closing it with a soft click and walking down the hall.

She stared for a moment, before inching down the bedding, her mind once again reeling and her head still pounding as she drifted off to a lethargy ridden sleep.

**AN: Not a cliffy *does a dance* hope you're proud. Read and review guys!**


	7. Firsts

**AN: Another day another chapter! Enjoy and throw some reviews my way! I accept criticism (as long as it's constructive ;)) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.**

_Chapter Six_

Sakura awoke with a start. Sweat beads dripped down her forehead, soaking her bangs as her eyes opened to adjust to the stream of moonlight filtering through the drapes in the bed. Shifting slightly and wiping the sleep from her eyes, she looked around, remembering where she was with a soft sigh.

Night had fallen long ago, by the looks of it. A gold clock upon the wall read the time, _02:04. _She hastened to wonder how long she had been asleep; the sun had been firmly set in the sky when she had returned to bed after her altercation.

_Him. _She thought, a slight grimace appearing on her features as she hastened to remember what had happened- the embarrassment she had felt. His changing demeanour, constantly differing every time they seemed to meet was beginning to sit uneasily with her.

Moving, she hopped off the bed, starting for the door as her parched throat called out for water. Surely, it was not safe to navigate a gang house at this time? She paused, listening for a moment for sounds of movement before deducing that there were none- maybe they had all gone to bed and she would be alright. All she needed do now was find the kitchen.

Walking down the corridor she hastened to remember where Tomoyo had taken her, shaking her legs slightly as she realised she had gained a little strength from her sleep earlier. At least she wouldn't be falling over soon.

As she rounded to the stairs, she stepped down them, careful not to make a creek upon the wooden parts, gold rimmed carpet flowing down the middle of cherry oak before her. Holding the banister with care as her legs shook ever so slightly, she sighed softly when her feet reached plush carpet beneath, relishing in the warmth it offered.

To one side she saw the vast expanse that was the living room she'd seen earlier. Taking a chance, she moved to the other side, opening a large door and sighing in relief when she found the room she'd been looking for.

It was a large room, an expression of what wealth could buy and old money rather than new. Wooden cabinets decorated with swirled engravings faced her, a large fridge and freezer out of place in their modern cases. To the other side stood a table, large enough easily for around fourteen, chairs neatly tucked under its oak surface.

Though Sakura was by no means a stranger to money, the contrast with how she felt when here, looking upon another home built from money was stark. Her home was modern, warm. Here, the obvious use of old school money from generations and the traditional décor was almost imposing, not a thing out of place either.

She looked around, emerald eyes focusing in the seldom light offered by a lamp that had been left on trying to locate where she may find a glass. She looked around at the cupboards before she set her eyes upon a glass fronted cabinet containing what looked like whiskey tumblers. Shrugging to herself, she moved to the cabinet, opening it with a gentle click.

The water felt cool, her throat gasping as she drank from the tumbler, her body suddenly much more alive. Refilling the glass, she stopped, looking up with a shriek to find another in the room with her. Dark brown eyes, black as night hair.

"Whenever I see you, you are always scared."

"You should know, it is rude to creep up on people."

"In one's own home? I don't think so. Perhaps it is rude to be sneaking around in the night, yes?" Samaya smiled, a toothy grin as he gave a jovial guffaw. She blushed under his gaze, feeling suddenly rude herself and utterly embarrassed at being caught.

"It's alright, but I'd put that back if I were you."

"Huh?" She looked around before looking to the glass in her hand, holding it up with a questioning gaze.

"Syaoran. They're his whiskey glasses. No-one touches." He offered, smiling slightly forcibly at the mention of his superiors name.

"Oh" her voice was quiet, like a small mouse in the night. For some reason she felt uncomfortable, stood in the kitchen with Samaya at this late hour. She reasoned in her mind he had been nothing but nice to her, but he was a gang member- surely that meant he was a murderer. She placed the glass on the side, staring at it for a moment as she shuffled nervously

Her legs hurt to the extent that she wanted to crawl back to her bed, but for some reason she was rooted to the spot. Her mind was flicking through various categories of knowledge, and for some reason to the owner of the glass.

"So…" Samaya's voice returned, and she heard him pull out a stool for the island in the middle of the kitchen and looked up, locking eyes with him as he watched her.

"So..?"

"What is it you school kids to these days?"

"What do we do? What do you mean? For fun?"

He nodded, looking at her with curious eyes. She took a second to intake the features of his face, and wondered how old he was. She would not have pegged him for much older than themselves, his face holding a certain youth that Eriol and Li did not have.

"Uhm, I don't know. Dancing… Seeing friends… Cheerleading?"

She noticed, uncomfortably, that his eyes seemed to glint slightly as she mentioned cheerleading. She knew, in the recesses of her mind, what people often thought of cheerleaders. That they were, well, _easy. _In that way. Not Sakura, nor her friends. She was not like that.

"Cheerleading and dancing? I can imagine. You are very… Athletically built." She felt his eyes roam over her, and blushed deeply once more, remembering the attire she was wearing. It was not exactly suitable, a small pair of shorts and a t shirt that did not belong to her. She swore mentally, feeling increasingly more worried at the situation.

Samaya had seemed such a nice young man when she met him. But now, when she looked to him, she could see a lust upon his face that she had hoped she never would; that of which was not returned. Her legs ached terribly, and she wondered if she were to move if she would fall, she felt imprisoned, a doe in the headlights of a car. Something about the situation was sending tremors down her spine as she looked over him once more, with his dark hair falling into his eyes and muscular build; she suddenly felt that she could be in for trouble.

Realising he was awaiting some kind of answer, she lumbered more under his gaze. She felt unsure of what to say, unsure of how she was going to remove herself from the situation.

"Thank you. It's more at school, really."

"I'm sure it is, but I did manage to see your… dancing at the nightclub the other day. Talented indeed aren't you…Sakura." His voice was huskier, darker, and she knew she shouldn't be in the room as her mind warned her with an air of finality. She blushed further remembering the crazed dancing of her and her friends that night, the night of her birthday. How she knew she didn't want to do it again if this was what it led to.

"I should be getting to bed now." She whispered- her voice shaky as she looked toward the door. The hall outside was dark and she squirmed inwardly thinking of it.

"Here, let me help you." Samaya stood swiftly, making his way over to her, the glint never leaving his eye.

"No… I'm alright… I can do it myself."

He was in front of her, imposing on her frame, suddenly bringing his arms out and placing one around her waist, too close for comfort. Her body tensed, and she felt her breath quicken at his touch… So intimate.

She nodded, silently thinking that if she let him help he may let her go. His hand still firmly in place, he slung her arm over his shoulder and aided her walking toward the door. Perhaps three steps in, he stopped, whirling round to her front.

"You know… _Sakura…_You are a very pretty young lady." His breath was on her face, his eyes searching hers, arm planted on her waist. She felt her eyes widen as her heart hammered in her chest. She was sure she was heading for a heart attack young these days.

His arm refused to move when she tried to shrug it off, grasping the counter behind her with a free hand as she leant backwards, legs now shaking so furiously that she could feel him looking at her, predator and prey. How wrong she was to get involved in gang dealings. This man, maybe Samaya wasn't his real name? This man, he could do anything to her, rape, kill, anything. She would be defenceless, forced against her will. Maybe the others were like this- maybe, oh gods, maybe something had already happened to the others? Her face contorted into panic, mind racing at the prospects flying through it in the seconds since he had spoken. She felt his body press against hers and moved her head to the side, eyes squeezing shut as she did so.

"Leave me alone. Please." Just a whisper, all that would come out was a whisper. She could literally feel his smirk upon his features.

"My my, Sakura. We don't really want that do we? We don't really want to leave one another alone? In those skimpy clothes, you were talking to me before… Who's gonna know? Who you gonna tell? Who's going to believe you?"

If possible she became more panicked, gripping the counter with all her might. Tears began to well in emerald eyes as she thought of anything to get her out of the situation.

"Don't be so cruel, Samaya. Please, this isn't right."

"I'm in a gang, Sakura. You tell me if I do what's right every single day?"

She gasped, feeling his hand placed upon her bare leg and reeling backwards, further into the counter as much as she could, suddenly feeling extremely helpless and looking around for something, anything.

"Interrupting something am I?" A deep baritone shattered the tension, Sakura's eyes and Samaya's head whipping around to the doorway.

"LI!" Sakura let his name surpass her lips faster than she thought possible, despite his arrogance, she felt suddenly calmed by his presence. Surely, he would help her. Then she remembered their previous altercation, stifled by the fear running through her. Maybe he hated her?

He stood, leaning against the doorway, hands in pockets as he took in the situation before him. His eyes drank in the situation, the hand that had dropped from the pale creamy legs of the female, the unshed tears glimmering in her eyes. Inside, confusion reigned.

Samaya stepped away from Sakura, her breathing an audible sigh as he did so. Syaoran raised an eyebrow, eyes darting between the two of them.

"Who's been using my glasses?"

His words seemed to halt them both. He did not comment on the situation, eyes flickering to the crystal tumbler set upon the side by Sakura. His voice was quiet, yet they could hear a slight anger to it.

"I did… I needed some water"

"They aren't for water. Samaya, leave." His voice held an air of finality, and the dark haired young man left with a curt nod toward his boss. Sakura let her body take over and slouched completely, her legs shaking still. It was a miracle she was still holding herself up.

The room took on a new sense of awkwardness, the silence and tension now resuming between them. Each could recall their tiff earlier, and how Sakura had spoken to Syaoran before she had slept.

"I thought I told you to get some rest?"

She looked up to him, a frown on his features, yet the rest of his face discernible. She almost thought his eyes held slight worry, and she knew in his perceptiveness he had taken in her shaking legs once more. Was she in for a lecture?

"I was thirsty."

Syaoran's emotions were conflicting inside him. For some reason, he had been unable to get the young woman in front of him out of his mind since he had met her. Yet, now, in the dark of the night he had encountered her on a rendezvous with one of his men? He had seen Samaya speaking with her before, that first night he had met her. Yet, why could he see the slight shed of tears around her sleepy eyes, why had she looked uncomfortable in the proximity with the other man. He wanted to ask her about it, but he wouldn't let himself. He wouldn't let her think he cared. He couldn't care.

He moved into the room, picking another of the tumblers up, moving the other to the counter next to which the young girl was slumped against. Moving back, he pulled a decanter from the cabinet, the same crystal as the tumblers, unplugging the top and pouring two drinks into them. He stopped, silently offering the girl the other. She looked at it unsurely, remembering what had happened last time she had drank.

"I, I don't think it's a good idea."

He raised an eyebrow, challenging her almost, and set it down, taking his own tumbler and throwing some of the dark liquid down his throat with a sigh. He set it back to the counter, empty, before pouring more in and moving to take a seat, holding it between his hands as he thought.

Sakura almost saw the alcohol in the glass as a challenge. Was he testing her to see if she could drink it? If she was grown up enough? Perhaps. Her legs shook as she moved, taking the glass from the counter and drawing a chair at the table across from him. She could see him contemplating something, and suddenly felt awkward at the situation he had found her in. She suddenly felt like she needed the drink in her hands- alcohol calmed nerves, right?

She gulped it down, grimacing as the alcohol assaulted her taste buds. It tasted like paint thinner. Drinking the whole glass in one, she finished it with a grotesque expression and watched as Li poured more into it, still not making eye contact with her once more.

"Why are you awake? It's late."

"I could say the same of you."

"I told you I came for a drink."

Her words hung in the air as they fell into silence once more, and she felt a need to explain herself of the situation. The alcohol she'd consumed was making her feel _different._ She felt the words threatening to spill out.

"It wasn't what it looked like."

He raised his eyes to hers in shock, emerald orbs meeting amber in a brief moment. Her heart fluttered slightly and she felt powerless to control it, a tingling sensation settling in her stomach as she looked into his beautiful eyes.

"It's none of my business." He whispered, looking away from her. For some reason, she felt her heart plummet when he looked away from her, and she could tell from his tone he didn't believe her. Was it possible he felt something for her?

_Hold on a second. _Did she feel something for him? This man who'd been abhorrent to her, yet, she somehow felt that she could see something in him. That other side that he seldom showed from a cold hearted man to a boy who'd not lived carefree like she had for her life.

"I just thought you should know. It was nothing."

"Is that what you call that kind of thing? _Nothing?"_ His voice held anger, and she felt like he's slapped her.

"What are you insinuating, Syaoran?"

She'd used his given name. He looked up at her with wide eyes. He was barely ever called his name, not to his face. She used it, and it felt good falling from her lips. But she'd called that kind of contact _nothing? _Was she some promiscuous school kid?

He said nothing, just poured more into his glass and swigged from it deeply, her doing the same. He had no reply, deep down he knew that she was not like that. Did it mean, could it be, that Samaya had somehow forced himself on her? He did not wish to jump to any conclusions, and felt slight anger at the prospect of this. He somehow wanted to protect the beauty across from him, and regretted saying this to her.

"I was scared."

"Be careful with your accusations."

She gulped, taking another drink from the glass and feeling anger at him. Why didn't he understand? Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, suddenly feeling dirty in his presence. He thought her a slut!

"Be careful with yours, Li."

She attempted to stand, swaying slightly from the alcohol she drained from the glass and the weakness in her legs. She felt emotional, suddenly, out of control and the need to go home to her bed and just cry.

"Hey…" He had grasped her wrist, preventing her from swaying to the point where she would fall. She looked at him with glassy eyes, not feeling repulsed by the feeling of his calloused hands against her skin.

"I apologise. I somehow don't think you are like that." His voice was soft and she could only nod as he stood next to her, holding her up. She felt almost safe, his large form towering over hers as he did so. She didn't feel the entrapment she had moments before, she felt slight wonder and sighed internally, suddenly and irrevocably wanting to be closer to him. She couldn't even fathom a reason why.

"I'm glad." She whispered, suddenly launching herself in to hug him. She could smell his scent, mixed with the alcohol intoxicating her senses as she placed her arms around his neck and buried her head into his chest in a fit of momentary insanity.

Syaoran stood, shocked at the action of her. Her body was flush to his, and he realised this in an instant as he felt her small breasts against his chest, her warm breath tickling his chest.

"Sakura…" She did not listen, and in a moment of what he would also call temporary insanity, he put his arms around her small waist. She was shaking, and he hoisted her up slightly so her weight was resting against his even more, placing an arm under her legs and holding her as if she was fragile. She raised her head, looking into his eyes as he looked down to her, breath ghosting across one another's face. In that moment, the world faded, the kitchen gone, and their eyes began to close.

She parted her lips slightly, feeling his against her own stirring a range of emotions inside her. She sighed as they met, him deepening the kiss at the moment she did.

Her world span as she kissed him, suddenly needing the contact he provided. She had seldom had contact before, only lightly kissed a boy before once in school. That was it. She felt inadequate against him, this man that she was kissing. She wanted him to kiss her, like a schoolgirl wanting her first kiss. This was her first proper kiss, deep and almost meaningful as if she was pouring all the emotions she felt into him- the confusion, the sorrow, the mixed feelings she felt toward him.

He? He stood, deepening the kiss and clinging to the young woman as if for dear life. He had not known what had possessed this, what had caused him to swoop down and seal the kiss that he currently never wanted to end. He just knew that in that moment it had seemed the right thing to do, to throw caution to the wind and kiss her with all he could.

**AN: **And there we go. R&R ;)


	8. Normalcy

**AN: I'm so sorry for the long absence. Looks like my university work got on top of me! Final year so it's been all hands to the deck. Here is the next instalment of recoil!**

**Chapter Eight**

Her head ached slightly as her eyes flickered open in the softly lit room. Squeezing her eyes shut before opening them finally, she adjusted to her surroundings. The room, at the mansion she was now trapped in.

_Last night._

She brought her hands to her face as she considered what had transpired last night, the events with Samaya and then Li.

His lips against hers, the musky smell of cedar wood and alcohol still invading her senses.

A hand came to her lips as she ran fingers across her peachy pout, suddenly feeling ashamed of what had happened. What had possessed them to kiss so? The alcohol? It was sure that she was little the experienced drinker, in fact, her head felt slightly sore. How strong was that stuff? How was she supposed to face him? Had she enjoyed it?

She mentally slapped herself, considering the situation she had found herself in. It dawned on her, once more, how her life had changed in this strange string of events. She had been chased, nearly killed, broken laws, nearly been sexually assaulted and now was becoming some promiscuous young thing fraternizing with gang leaders? When did she mess up so badly?

Suddenly it became hard to breathe, the enormity of the situation falling upon her shoulders like a lead weight. She had been submersed too soon, too fast, a situation too hard to handle. Hard and fast she had fallen into a world she should never be involved in. _Guns, crime, men. _The realisation now that she missed her house, no doubt the emptiness that would greet her when she came back without Layla's merry smile and homemade foods, but it was worth being lonely to escape this world before she became immersed into this. Before she became one of those girls hanging about gang run clubs, nothing but a _cheap whore. _She wanted out. She suddenly craved the normality of her life, the mundane weeks that would follow. She wanted her education, her house, her life- back. Nothing was going to stop her, because she certainly could not handle the uncertainties that she felt in this house, especially after last night.

* * *

"Tomoyo?"

"Sakura! You're out of bed! You should still be resting!"

Her mouth curved into a crooked grin as her friend addressed her, concern falling into her amethyst eyes. She looked around the room, similar to the one she'd been in. A couple of pairs of clothes were folded neatly in a pile, including her school uniform which appeared to have been repaired from whatever the crash would have inflicted upon it.

"Sit! Sit!" She was ushered to the bed, sitting down with a soft sigh as she turned to her friend, checking the door was shut.

"We need to talk."

"I know we do. What's the matter?"

"I want to go home Tomoyo. I can't stay here. I don't want to be involved in this any further, I can't face it. I don't want this life Tomoyo, it isn't suited to us. We shouldn't be hanging around with _these people."_ Her voice slanted off to a whisper as she finished, searching the face of her friend for any hint of surprise, and found none.

"They've been good to us, Sakura, especially you and Rika. We shouldn't disrespect their hospitality… But I know what you are saying. How are we expected to leave though? You heard them yesterday; Li is the one giving the all clear for us when we can leave."

She flushed at the mention of his name, trying to ignore the slightly faster beating of her heart and the thought of last night. Why did she suddenly wish to leave? Because she was embarrassed? She sure felt she'd made a fool of herself last night, arguing with him, drinking with him… Kissing him. Then fleeing as fast as she could, which wasn't honestly very fast, after it was over with a squeaky goodnight and a burning face.

However, deep down she knew why she wanted to leave. She had enjoyed the kiss, but she didn't want to be involved with Li. He was cruel, obviously, and with a fire in her stomach she remembered how he had said they should've been left in the car wreckage. Left. To die. Why was he so incumbent on having a multiple personality? He didn't care; probably thought it was some big joke that he could have his way with her like gang people did. Got what they wanted, then left them out to dry. She was sure she knew how it worked.

"I don't think he will care Tomoyo. He made that clear before."

"What can we do? Rika came around in the early hours today, she seems alright. We need to leave together, the best I can think is that we should go tonight, let her gather a little strength. Perhaps we should stay together for a few days, if we do leave…"

Reasonable Tomoyo was the one Sakura liked the most, which was most of the time, and she was grateful for it at such a moment as she felt like she was having an internal breakdown.

"Then we leave tonight. I can call a doctor to come see her when we get home. We'll go to my house, there's just going to be me rattling around like some old spinster anyway." She giggled, and felt for the first time in days slightly free, almost giddy. She was going home.

"Just one problem…"

She looked at Tomoyo in confusion, eyebrow raised.

"Who's going to tell Li?"

* * *

"Eriol is it?" Her voice was timid, meek, and she was sure she looked like a child about to tell their mother they'd broken some priceless vase.

The man in front of her smiled, coming round to pull a chair out from under the table for her to sit on. He had a kind face, eyes that sparkled with almost unnerving wisdom.

"Sakura, how are you feeling? I am afraid I haven't had much update on your condition."

She smiled, launching into a quick rundown of how she was feeling so much better than previously, that her arm and legs were feeling in almost perfect working order. Half a lie, but hopefully it would aid her case.

"I'm glad, however, there's a reason you came to talk to me isn't there?"

She was startled, but she should have known that he would be aware she had come for a reason. She'd made it downstairs to the kitchen and had been elated to find him there. Tomoyo had said he was the most reasonable person to talk to, and with his question she was surprised to find no hint of mockery or harshness, just genuine intrigue. She had a feeling though that he already knew why she was there.

"Look… It's not… It's not you guys, you've all been really nice to us and took proper care of us, which of course if I could repay you for I would… It's just that we miss our home… This, this, it isn't… It's not what I'm used to, any of us are used to, and-"

He held a hand in the air, effectively silencing her with a wry smile.

"You sound like you're about to perform the worst break up in history. You want to go home, I understand that. I'm not offended; I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here. I have to ask Li, but I'm sure he will let you go."

_Easier than I thought._

"Thank you, you don't know how much this means to us."

"You'll have your answer in an hour. I'll go talk to Li now."

She got up to leave, smiling at him jovially and felt a bubble of happiness well in her stomach as she began to leave.

"Sakura?"

She turned, an eyebrow raised.

"Just so you know, it's all been for your safety. It's a cruel world out there, and I'd hate to think by your association with us and by extension your leaving here would do you all any harm. I may not be as suspicious of people as Li, or as hard faced, but I know he was trying to keep you all safe. Don't get into any trouble if he lets you leave."

* * *

A sequence of knocks occurred at the door and instantly he knew who it was. When Eriol bothered on the off occasion, he had a certain knock that he had used to annoy him since childhood.

"I don't know why you bother knocking, because you certainly won't piss off if I say to."

He waltzed in, like a showman entering the stage, shutting the door with a flamboyant twirl and throwing himself into a chair, never taking his eyes from Syaoran.

"Well?"

"No drink? No offering of hospitality here?"

"Shove off, what do you want?"

In truth, he wasn't up for Eriol's games today. He had woken in the morning like a bear with a sore head, thoughts of a certain emerald eyed beauty plaguing his mind and how she had left last night. What had possessed him to kiss her, he wasn't sure. No, it wasn't even that which bothered him the most; the fact was that she had _let him _and then shied off like the little girl she evidently was. He didn't do things like that; he wasn't into the whole romancing girls. He'd had his share of the female population, he thought with a grimace, but he wasn't one for kissing in quiet rooms and starting out slow. Not for a long time he wasn't. Females had always been used as a means to make an end, and for nothing more. Usually, they liked that, which was the type of girl he'd been with. But her, no, she felt different. _Why was he even thinking about this?_

"Earth?"

"What?!"

"So, Sakura and the girls, they want to leave."

His eyes shot up from the piece of paper he'd been looking at to see Eriol studying him with a faraway expression.

"How do you know? What's been said?"

"Sakura came to me. Rika's awake, she's feeling better, and they want to go home. Basically forget this whole episode."

For some reason unbeknown to him, he felt anger boil through his veins. Clenching his fists slightly, he kept his demeanour cold. How dare she? Partake in whatever last night was and then run away? Embarrassment? Regret? One thing he was aware of, what this definitely was, was _rejection._

Li Syaoran did not get rejected. He was not treated this way by women, and his mind became cloudy as he considered her. Running away, like the child she was. Silly little schoolgirl. Suddenly he felt not only anger, but regret at his own actions from last night. He had kissed her, not taken it further, let her weave her way in to run away and attempt to mess with his head. Good riddance.

"Let them go."

Eriol looked surprised, his eyebrows depressed into his face as he looked to his relative across the desk.

"Do you consider it a good idea? Syaoran, look what happened last time!"

"I didn't expect such a rebuttal from you Eriol. They are of no use to us; we are certainly of no use to them. Let them get back to normal life, I'm sure they'll leave them alone when they realise we have no need for an association with them. Now go, we have a meeting tonight, make sure they're gone."

* * *

Sakura smiled to herself as Tomoyo walked into the room, a large bowl of popcorn held in her hands before setting it down on the table to be promptly snatched into Sakura's lap. Rika giggled at the exchange, stretching out like a cat on the sofa next to hers.

They had been at her home for two hours, having been freed from Li's. Sakura had spent a few moments considering what Li's reaction would have been upon finding out they wanted to leave. _Probably was happy about it._

Why had he been plaguing her mind all day? She had neither seen nor heard him, seldom heard him mentioned as Eriol wished them well as they left and another member dropped them at her house. She had at least, somewhere, expected him to say goodbye. But then again, what was that to expect? Should she fathom that he would wish her well, say goodbye?

She sighed and looked to the television, watching the film with her friends and listening to their giggles. After a while, the film which she was almost a hundred per cent sure they had seen a thousand times over became boring to her. She tuned out almost instinctively, and appreciated just being at her home.

"Guys.."

"Hmm?" Simultaneously her and Tomoyo answered Rika, looking toward her. She was staring up at the ceiling with a furrowed brow, contemplating something.

"What happens now?"

"We go back to normal." Tomoyo was fast as a whippet in her answer, a firm voice coming from Sakura's right where she sat.

"Do you think we'll ever see them again? Do you think we'll have any trouble?"

Her voice was small, childlike and fragile as the words hung in the air for a moment. Sakura looked to Tomoyo, who was also watching her with interest. She waited, hoping Tomoyo would answer instead of her. In all honesty, she had pondered the thought herself; especially of after their association last time had left them in such a mess.

"No, I don't think we will. In answer to both of your questions. We have nothing of use to them, any of them; things can just go back to normal."

She watched as Rika smiled slightly before expelling a deep breath.

"In a weird way, it felt like an adventure. A surreal, scary adventure, but I guess I feel like it was kind of … fun."

Sakura snorted, laughing at her friend.

"If you think nearly getting killed is fun!"

A sombre silence enveloped them, each lost in their own quiet contemplation of what had occurred over the past few days. Hopefully, things would return to how they used to be.

* * *

_**Two weeks later…**_

Sakura smiled to herself as she picked the dressing gown off the rack, the fluffy pink material feeling like sheer heaven in her hands. Picking it up, she walked over to the cashier, producing her card and paying before leaving the store.

The sun was shining, a slight breeze in the air as she walked around the outdoor shopping complex. She felt free again; her life had returned to its former normality and she was relishing in it. The first week she had felt constantly on edge, and it had not escaped her that her friends felt the same. Now, after a week and a half of looking over her shoulder, the past couple of days had allowed her to submerge herself back into the mundane repetition of her life that she now enjoyed. Rika and she were healing well, Rika being back to her normal self. Sakura had been able to drive again since two days ago, with the nod from her private healthcare provider that she just had to take it easy before throwing herself back into sports and the like. She felt free.

Crossing the street, she entered another store, looking for some new bath bubbles as she hummed to herself. A night of pampering with the girls was her future for tonight, a simple Friday of relaxation after their return to school. The school had been sombre and quiet since, the toll of the events that had shattered the routine of their education still fresh in many minds. Sakura however had vowed to put it to the back of her mind, in a place she would keep locked with the fresh memories that had occurred surrounding the event.

Walking through the aisles of glittering liquids and gossamer balls of bath bombs, she halted to browse when a chill ran down her spine. She turned around, looking for the source of her bodies' discomfort. The only presence near her was a man two aisles away, looking at what appeared to me some moisturiser. _Men these days. _She rolled her eyes and continued browsing, setting her discomfort down to repercussions of remembering.

Picking up her chosen item, she left the store, now setting about the next shop; a bakery a few shops further down. The pink and yellow sign danced in the sunlight as she entered with a tinkle of the bell, picking up some cupcakes with rosy frosting before setting on her way.

She had walked to the shops, something about getting her leg feeling better that the doctor had recommended. It also stopped her driving, which she was still slightly uncomfortable with doing still, maybe it was the memories of what had happened in the car chase, maybe it was her leg. She sighed, realising she was reminiscing again and carried on.

It was another three streets away, eight streets from her house that she realised her legs had begun to ache. Maybe traipsing around shops as well as walking to and fro was not a good idea. She also realised, as she became more attuned into her surroundings, that she was tense. Her body was telling her something once more.

Looking around her carefully, feigning interest in checking her bag for something, she raised her eyes to see what was wrong. Something felt out of place.

Her eyes honed in on a man walking quite a distance behind her, but she recognised him. _The moisturiser man! _She realised the chill in her spine from the store may not have been so misplaced. Could he be following her? Perhaps he was just going to the same place?

Searching with her eyes for another path, she saw a seldom used street that would cut across two of those that she needed. It was lined with homes, a little pathway at the end. She turned down it, checking in her bag for her telephone as she walked, keeping one eye trained behind her as she did so. Without missing a beat, the man walked the very same path as she did eyes down to the ground.

Was she being paranoid? She was not sure, but she quickened her step just the same. She carried on, holding her phone in her palm as she sent a text to Tomoyo asking her to have the gates open for when she arrived.

Two streets away from her house she could still feel his presence. She needn't turn around any longer; she knew he was there. She could hear his footsteps faintly now, closer than before as she turned the last corner down the large sweeping street that came into view. Few houses were along the street, each plot as large as the next with long sweeping drives before the house would even come into view. Stepping faster still, she could faintly see the pillars of her gates as she approached.

"Hey! You! You left something at the store!"

Sakura's heart hammered in her chest, knowing that the man was speaking to her. She did not turn around.

"Sorry must have the wrong person!"

"Hey! I'm talking to you! You ignorant bitch!"

She was shocked at his manner, the words sliding out of his mouth cruelly and she suddenly knew how much deep crap she was in.

"If I'd left something at the store I'm sure it wouldn't have taken you until my street to tell me that!"

She shouted to the wind, quickening her pace into a power walk as she did so, before she heard his footsteps falling hard to the ground behind her, closer. _Running._

Feeling her legs ache beneath her, she hazarded a glance behind as she saw the man running up behind her as she pelted as fast as she could, bags hitting against her body as she neared the gate.

"Come back here!"

She screamed as she felt him near, her lungs tearing into pieces as she attempted to run and supress her fear. The pillars were in view, gates open, and she steeled herself to run a little faster, to pull away. Mentally, her mind drove her forward and spurned her on, to succeed.

Finally finding her way through the gates, she slapped her hand harshly against the switch on the gates, watching with baited breath as it closed, inch by inch… He was going to make it through…

She heard him panting as he rounded toward it, just as the gap closed just small enough to dismiss him getting through, the high gates closing and drawing a line between them as she backed up, never turning her back and refusing to break eye contact with this man… Whoever he was.

"You… Who are you…?" Her breath came out in heavy puffs as she stepped backwards, he couldn't get to her now.

"Just came to see you… Princess."

His mouth curved into a crooked smile and she suddenly realised how foul looking this creature was in front of her. His teeth were jagged and oversized for his thin lipped mouth, a pointy face and two beady eyes sallow set into his tanned face. Dark hair, which looked as though it hadn't been cleaned in a good month or two finished off his creepy demeanour.

"I don't know you, we've never met… I don't know you, what do you want with me?!"

She was becoming hysterical, having halted her steps with a sudden surge of thirst for knowledge.

"To send you some regards, _Sakura."_

Her chest stopped, she was sure. Her hearts hammering in her chest had surely ceased to beat as she felt her attention wane from reality. Her mind clouded… Had he just said her name?

He laughed, cutting through the enveloping silence. A cruel, sinister guffaw that only existed in horror movies and possibly psychiatric wards, which was ringing in her ears now as she studied him, cold sweat beginning to drip down her back. _She never did like horror movies._

"Sending you a gift, princess. With regards, from the boss man himself."

He produced something from the bag at his side and instinctively she ducked, causing him to laugh even more. Plucking out a box, he bent and slid it under the slight gap under the fencing before blowing her a kiss and stalking off.

_What the hell? What the actual hell?_

She stood still, infuriated and scared. _The boss man himself? Gift? _She stared at the package on the floor. Was it a bomb? Doubtful, he wouldn't have kept it so close if it was. So what was it?

Looking around, she dared walk to the gate and peer through. True enough, the man had gone; the street was silent and still in the daylight as if the altercation did not occur. Stepping back and to the side, she examined the package. A brown box, medium size, simple. Nothing special. She looked around, as if waiting for something. Would she open it?

Her heart hammered once more as she kicked the lid of the box from the top and peered over. _At least it didn't explode. _

Looking down, she could see some pink tissue paper with a jar laid in the centre. With sudden curiosity, she reached down and picked it up, nearly dropping it as she did so.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Tomoyo's voice was loud, shrieking in her ear. In fact, she hadn't stopped shrieking since Sakura had entered the house and recanted the events of the day to her before producing the offending item that sat on the table.

"Is it poisonous?" She asked, peering into the glass and tapping softly on it.

"Probably! Don't let it out! Oh gosh Sakura I thought we were going to be okay… We're not okay… They're coming for us! How did this happen?!"

Sakura leafed through the other item from the box. Under the jar, had sat some perfectly replicated identity cards. Sakura felt sick to her stomach looking at them; copies of their identification. _Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, Tomoyo… Her. _These people knew who they were, where they lived… And they obviously had grief with them.

The small animal in the jar hissed and poked out its tongue, meeting only glass due to the cramped conditions it was residing in.

Inside the jar, only tiny but almost certainly vicious, sat a tiny black snake, curled around the bottom of the jar and poking its head toward her. Taped to the inside of the jar was a note in small, neat handwriting.

_A snake is a very clever thing_

_But tormentors should be cautious of its sting_

_You'll be wishing you never meddled in my plans._

_Goodbye, Cherry._

**AN: Quite a long one as I felt super bad. R & R guys! I bashed this out quite fast but it's me trying to move things along! Thanks & see you soon!**


	9. Innocence Lost

**AN: So, next chapter. Thanks to Fashion Fairy for the kind review as usual from the last one! As well as everyone else who is keeping up with the events of Recoil. Without further ado…**

**IMPORTANT: Please note the rating of this chapter is probably more close to an M. I do believe that I'm going to have to change the rating of the story after I post this, just so any readers are aware. Dark themes follow. **

**Chapter Nine**

"Hello?"

"Hello? Who is this?"

"I… I'm sorry to bother you, I wouldn't, but when you said this was for emergencies… I gathered we were in the middle of one at the moment… Can you come over?"

"Oh, it's you. Has something happened? Are you alright?"

"We received something, are you busy? Can you come over to Sakura's?"

"I'll be there within the hour."

The line cut off.

-x-

"You did what?!"

Her friend looked abashed as she studied her, cheeks tinted pink as she stood in front of her place on the sofa, running her hand through her dark locks.

"Tomoyo, we can't just run to them all the time, I don't want them involved… It might just be to scare us, associating with them will get us nowhere! In fact, look where it's ended up so far!"

Tomoyo looked down to her before throwing herself, possibly in one of the most un ladylike motions she'd ever performed, onto the opposite sofa in a heap of pyjamas and slippers.

"Look, I didn't know what else to do. It's not like I rang Li!"

Sakura flushed at his name, feeling hot under the collar all of a sudden as she looked to her friend. They'd cancelled the gathering last night, brainstormed between the two of them whilst casting furtive glances at every door, window and empty room in the house. When they'd retired, none the wiser and none the happier, they had vowed to sort it out this morning. Behind her back, Tomoyo had done what she must have thought was their only option. She'd rang _them. _

_She's right though… We have no one else to turn to. _She sighed as she ran her own hands through her auburn locks, feeling like screaming out loud. The offending items still sat in the centre of the coffee table, taunting her, the reptile still sticking its tongue out as if it wanted to taste her flesh. The mere thought made her stomach twist and turn with disgust.

A noise sounded at the gate and she turned, looking at Tomoyo with a raised brow before walking tentatively to the window to look out. In front of the gate sat a large black car, the man behind the wheel searching for the intercom without avail. Smiling wryly when she recognised him, she looked to Tomoyo who was on her way to allow them to enter. _Eriol._

-x-

He was silent for some time as he looked at the articles he had been presented with, fidgeting with his glasses occasionally and sighing loudly. Sakura had been studying him for some hint through his body language to his thoughts, but he kept them hidden. If he had been shocked at their 'gift' he did not show it, rather, just seemed quiet. She had not expected this, and now, as he and another sat in her living room with the two pyjama clad girls, she began to feel even more confused.

"Well?" The other man spoke, who she had recognised as Takashi, which was his name she believed. He had been talking to Chiharu the night when it all began. He was attractive, but young, not looking more than a few months older than her.

Eriol looked to him before clearing his throat and examining Tomoyo before her, gaze intent and obviously deep in thought.

"I'll have to speak to Li… It looks like you'll have to come back to the manor."

Tomoyo gasped, Sakura shrank into her seat. There was no way she wanted to go back to there, why couldn't they just ignore it? Not spark something out of this?

"I'm not going back there."

The younger man seemed quite surprised at her words, Eriol not so. He sighed as though he had expected it, and shuffled himself around to lean forward over the table.

"Do you not understand the gravity of this? You are young, defenceless, and obviously have no appreciation for the circumstances. These people are coming for you. For some reason whatever you did to piss them off is beyond just our acquaintance, and you're not safe alone."

Worried eyes formed on Tomoyo's face, deflating. Sakura knew she wanted to listen to Eriol, that his words made sense. But somewhere in her heart she didn't want to go back, she was savouring her normal life and she couldn't handle their world. She wasn't prepared.

"Take Tomoyo with you. Take the girls. I'm staying here."

"No Sakura! I'm not leaving without you! It's not safe!"

"Your friends right Sakura, listen to Tomoyo. What are you going to do? Hole yourself up in this big pile of bricks and hope it blows over, things like this don't go away."

She stared at him with defiant eyes. This man, who she had considered quite reasonable, at least in comparison to _some _people she'd met, was obviously not going to let her off lightly.

"Look. I'm not going. You can't force me. I don't want this; never wanted this. I can handle myself, I got away from that man yesterday, I can keep an eye out, look after myself. I won't go back, you can't make me."

Eriol studied her for a second, sighing again before standing and turning to his partner.

"Ring Li. Tell him."

The young man looked dumbfounded for a second before slowly reaching for a mobile phone in his pocket. He faltered with it in his hands, looking once more to Eriol with a furrowed brow.

"Do you mean to say, Li isn't aware? You didn't tell him you were coming?" Tomoyo started, looking at Eriol like he had two heads. _Surely they would tell their leader? Explains why he isn't here… Why would he be here?_

"Li is, this once, not privy to this. I didn't know if it would've been something as significant as to inform him until we knew what we were dealing with. Now I know, I think it's time to inform him."

"Don't!" Sakura's voice rang out as the rest turned to her in shock and she turned a deep crimson. Her mouth before her mind, she looked around the room.

"I just don't think he needs to know about this."

"Sakura, through this threat to you he's getting to us. He knows it. We need to keep you out of harm's way before something happens. He gets to you; he sees it as a 'victory' against us. It's a game. He's using you as pawns for some reason because he knows you'll be an easy target."

She stood to her feet, slamming her hand down on the coffee table as she did so.

"I am not an 'easy target'. I can shoot a gun."

It was true; half true. In her younger years at school, target practice had been something that they'd been taught. So she wasn't exactly handy with a gun, and would never dream of using one in real life- but it was true she could use one. So maybe if they believed that she could use one they might believe she could stay in her house and defend herself. Of course, there was one somewhere in the house, never been used and just in case. Layla had said that they needed one for protection; just in case, when a string of burglaries had occurred around the area. It was somewhere in one of the bedrooms, under a bed, probably the box covered in dust. But it was surely leverage to keep her away from that house.

Why was she so against returning there? Still embarrassed about Li? Maybe. She considered her predicament, and wondered why she was so adamant about staying home. Burying her head in the sand and sitting by a weapon like some schizophrenic menace. She just knew she didn't want to return there.

"Sakura…" Tomoyo moved toward her, soothing voice and arms out as if she wanted to embrace her, but she stood her ground, watching Tomoyo flinch as she did so.

"Look, I'm not leaving. You don't need to go running to Li about my 'insubordinate' behaviour because I am not his or your responsibility. Tomoyo, Rika, Chiharu and Naoko will go with you. I'm staying here; that's final."

She met Eriol's eyes with a final look on her face, eyes boring into his as she felt a sudden surge of power. She didn't want to leave. She wouldn't be forced to leave. She certainly would not be run out of her home by a group of people she didn't even know. The strangest thing? He seemed to accept it.

"You can stay. The rest come with us. I won't leave the rest of them alone because you seem to be adamant that you want to risk your life staying here." His voice was cold, just like Li had spoken to her previously. She was almost shocked at this; scared slightly. "If you would leave for a moment, we need to discuss something."

Feeling rejected, she moved out of the room, looking at Tomoyo who looked on the verge of tears and feeling her heart rip inside her chest. She was being stupid, she knew. This wasn't just about Li, she guessed, she just wanted to be in her own home and childishly she admitted to herself she was hoping that the whole escapade would blow over. Something was keeping her at her home, she needed to be there for her sanity she figured, not creeping around some mansion fearful she might step on a creaky floorboard and cause a ruckus.

-x-

"I can't leave her!" Tomoyo's voice was shrill, hand on heart as tears escaped her eyes.

"She won't stay here alone. Give her tonight, she'll come to no harm, I'll see of it. She'll realise she's lonely, scared, she'll call you and we'll bring her with us."

"That's cruel! I can't do that to her! I'll stay with her!"

"That's not what you really want though is it? You know deep down you should leave." Takashi entered the conversation, looking at Tomoyo with understanding eyes as she heaved a deep breath from her lungs.

"I can't… We're like family. I can't see her in harm's way."

"Look, she isn't in harm's way. She is going to be safe, I'll have some people hang around and make sure that nothing happens to her. First word of even a misplaced walker and I'll have her brought out of here, willingly or not. But at this moment in time, she's like a tornado spinning out of control and I just think that if she has the time to contemplate this, she'll realise where she needs to be. Safe with you at the manor."

Tomoyo seemed deflated as she realised his words were right. If someone was watching Sakura, she would come to no harm. She nodded to him, the tears now falling down her face as she looked at him, a grim smile adoring his features as he squeezed her shoulder for a little comfort.

-x-

"I can't understand whether you're actually being fucking serious right now or whether the rest of the guys are stood outside this door wanting a good laugh. If they are, they seriously ought to reconsider joining your wind up merchant escapades before I put something metal through their skulls."

His eyes had narrowed into slits, his mouth a snarl as he slammed his fist down on the desk to the man in front of him. He was enraged; there was no other way to put it. Upon his desk lay five identification cards and the vicious little snake in the jar. He was mad, furious, and he wanted nothing more than to launch the offending creature at the wall.

"I'm serious. They're here, it's the best thing for them."

"Well make sure they get out of my way, stay out of damn trouble, and don't use many of my men in keeping them safe. Wei can teach them whatever they need, call their school and have them send things over. Keep Sakura out of my way as well, she has the biggest mouth of the lot of them and I can't deal with her right now."

He noticed as Eriol suddenly shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, teetering on the edge of spilling some information out of his mouth that Syaoran was sure he would not be grateful of.

"What?" He bit out, staring at his counterpart once more.

"Well you see… She wouldn't come. She's staying at her house."

That was it. Rather than the poor creature in the jar, he'd launched one of his favourite whisky glasses into the wall, and Eriol watched as it shattered, amber liquid dribbling down the wallpaper in a snails trail of wetness.

"What. Do. You. Mean?"

"She didn't want to come. She has a gun. She's staying at her house. I'm hoping that she'll spend tonight there alone and realise she's made a mistake. It's partly why I'm here actually, I wanted to… Borrow a couple of people just to keep an eye out."

Syaoran threw himself back into his chair, swinging his legs up onto the desk with a growl. _So she wouldn't even come here to keep her safe? Ungrateful bitch. _Why was he so mad? Because she was acting just like the careless child he had fathomed her to be? Or because he had kissed her and was still silently stewing over her obvious rejection. No. He was just annoyed because if she got killed then the Mamba's would have one up on him and they knew it. Everyone knew it.

She had a gun? Well, he had never guessed that she would own such an offensive article. How interesting. Why was she such a headstrong little thing? She obviously thought she knew better than them, holing herself up in her house like she could protect herself. If they wanted her, they'd get her.

"No. Let her learn the consequences of her actions." His eyes held no remorse, and he found himself almost shocked that he had allowed himself to say this. He was willing to let her die? _No, you don't mean that. She's innocent. _But he was angry with her, angry with her stupidity and her rejection of him with her childish ways. She needed to learn that what she was doing was wrong. As soon as someone came knocking she would be pleading for them to rescue her and be proved incorrect.

"Syaoran, we can't do that! She's so young!"

"She knows this. She probably knows this better than anyone. Has she your number?"

Eriol shifted uncomfortably once more as he looked at him, hiding another thing. How many times he wished he could rip his throat from him he didn't know, but this was certainly one of those times.

"She has yours. I gave it her… Said she wouldn't use it… But I thought she might listen to you."

Syaoran studied him for a moment, anger rising once more.

"Get out, Eriol."

Cautiously, he left. Syaoran sat in a murky pool of his own thoughts, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. The careless girl! How did she think she could just run away from all this? She had wanted to leave, and then even though she would obviously be scared, refuse to come to the safety of his home? She confused him to no end, her stupid emerald eyes playing back and forth in his head as they widened everytime they'd argued, the softening of her when he'd behaved more gentlemanly with her. Deep down, however, he was aware how dangerous it was for her to be alone. Yet she was the one who had chosen it to be this way.

-x-

She hummed to herself as she mixed the eggs in the bowl, smiling slightly and doing a small dance around the kitchen as she made her way to the cooker. Last night she had slept like a baby, literally. She'd been worried at first, before she double checked the gates and immersed herself in a hot bath. No trouble. Not a whistle. She still knew that perhaps she was being reckless, but perhaps she was right, just an idle threat. At least Tomoyo and the others were out of harm's way anyway.

Singing now to the music coming from the audio player, she whirled around to grab a spoon from the pan.

Everything was fine.

-x-

"So you say… She's alone?"

The man in front nodded, a sly smile adorning his rat like features. Beady dark eyes looked to his boss, sat in front of him in a dark office, cigar hanging listlessly out of his mouth as he closed his eyes to mull over the information presented to him.

"Are they watching her?"

"Not that I know of… I haven't seen anyone at all. The others, they've been removed. I guess she must be the firecracker… Word from an informant says she wouldn't go back. Said she could take care of _herself_."

In a sudden and unexpected movement, the man behind the desk laughed. A cruel cacophony of notes erupting from him; sinister and cold, lifeless in the quiet of the room. His features curled into a snarl as he studied the man across from him, his right hand man. Ah, he was a useless fighter, but he could weasel his way into any situation and find out any information he wanted.

"We'll see about this. Send Jai."

The other man grinned even more, picking at the telephone on the desk and beginning to dial a number. This would be most amusing.

"Hai?"

"Jai… We have a job for you."

"On the boss's order?"

"Indeed, come through to the headquarters. You'll enjoy this one."

-x-

He was a cruel man. He knew it. He didn't attempt to deny himself the simple pleasures in life at all, in fact his lifestyle allowed him to revel in them. Money. Guns. Women. Murder. He enjoyed everything he could because Jai Hiroshi was talented man. People said he was brought from the womb with a gun in one hand and a wad of cash in the other; he was indeed one of the top at his game.

Therefore, he found it almost amusing that the boss would send him on such a simple mission. Take a school girl down? Not that he hadn't participated in missions before, but he had felt slightly put out that he would be picked for something so mundane. Whoever she was, as he watched her dance around her kitchen through his binoculars, she had to die. He didn't care- he would get the money for the job. Just kill her, leave his mark, and skip off down to the shadier clubs that night and get his fill of a proper woman.

She was attractive though, the small shorts she was wearing riding up and down as she pranced around. _Might have to get a taste of that first. _He grinned, an evil smile adorning his features. He still could not shake the wonderment of why her, why her? He looked at the large house, a bitter jealousy crossing his mind. Sure, he had money now. It had not always been this way. He grew up practically starving, hated by a coke ridden whore of a mother and never meeting his father. Perhaps it was from his mother's own practice that he had decided most women were trash; fickle, stupid and above all disposable. Growling at his thoughts, he pulled the device from his pocket and looked around, through the shrubbery he was currently hidden in across the street for any sign of observation. None. Obviously not that important. Whatever.

Slinking across the street, he picked the device from his pocket and looked to the wall, still checking for any sign of people around him. Taking it from his grasp, he placed it on the intercom, waiting with baited breath. How many times had he done this? Too many. More often nowadays, more money nowadays, it was like a walk in the park. The hard bit wouldn't be this one.

Watching with a sick satisfaction as it beeped thrice, the gates opened in front of his eyes, slowly granting him entrance through the sweeping drive and toward the house. He idly wondered how many bedrooms it had, for he could surely show the girl inside how to use one properly… Grinning once more, sticking to the tree lined sides of the driveway, he set on his way.

-x-

Dressing herself, she slumped in front of the television, the scrambled egg on her plate jumping slightly up as she did so. Daytime television was an utter drag, and she wondered how much she would have to watch before the outside world decided to do her a favour and blow over all this mess. Flicking the channel to one with some lady singing, she set about eating her breakfast, none the wiser to the mission that was occurring right outside.

-x-

He could see her in his sights, now in front of his bare eyes than through high strength binoculars. She was sat there, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. She'd changed, a simple tennis dress, white as snow. Even in sportswear, it made her look pure, almost angelic. She would definitely be getting a shock today.

Checking off his shoulder again, never forgetting the importance of being unseen, he set to the front door. Checking the handle, he hadn't expected it to be unlocked. He crouched, no key in the other side of the door. _Too easy. _Pulling a lock pick from his pocket, he set about the lock. He would have it cracked in less than 30 seconds. He wasn't the best man for this in town for no reason.

When he heard the satisfying click, he carefully opened the door- a large grand wooden contraption, he was quick to make sure it wouldn't go and creak on him. Creeping through the hall, he recalled the plans of her house that he'd been shown from the land registry. Providing no major remodelling had gone on, he knew exactly where she was and how to get there. Shutting the front door softly, he looked around for a key hanger. Spotting it and the key ring with a photograph of who he guessed were her friends, he locked the door, shoving it in his pocket and taking the spare for good measure. _Just in case. _

Creeping over the polished floorboards, he noted the modern décor and snarled at some obviously expensive paintings and vases. _Poor little rich girl. _

He could hear the television closer now, hear her voice singing as she watched a music channel he guessed, her soft melody creeping into his ears like the voice of an angel. Coming closer still, careful that he could still hear her singing and simultaneously the clack of her cutlery against the plate, he approached, soft footfalls as he made not a noise, lithe and athletic in his movement as he did so.

He could see her now, still oblivious to his presence in her home. She was smaller as he got closer, a tiny little creature with long auburn hair that flowed freely around her person. _She would definitely taste good. _Quickly checking around for anything that she could use against him, he faltered as he considered his approach. He wanted her, as he often had in the past with some of his… Victims. She would be much better off alive for that part. After all, what way to stick it to Li than defile her before her death? He grinned.

Checking for the rope in his pocket, he advanced.

-x-

The music changed over to another song as she sighed, looking upwards at the ceiling for a second. But something caught her eye. In the bottom of the television, the panelling on the side was reflecting something. She squinted slightly before supressing the urge to gasp. Someone was behind her.

-x-

He reached her, failing to notice her sudden silence as he approached, hand on his gun in his holster, one out in front of him. It would be simple to take her by brute force really, as she was so small and obviously untrained. Also lacking a decent security system.

He reached her in an instant, grabbing her by the shoulder and swiftly turning her around with a smile on his face like a Cheshire cat.

"Hello, princess."

Before he knew it, she screamed, loudly, grabbing the plate from her lap and smashing it over his head with as much force as she could muster and jumping away from his grasp.

"You bitch!" Jai did not take kindly to his prey attacking him. Sure the chase could be fun, amusing, and he always won, but he didn't expect the little girl to actually attack him with a plate.

She sprang, and he was surprised how fast she did so as she hopped onto the coffee table, a wild look in her eyes like a feral cat as he squeezed his open and closed to dull the throb at the back of his head. Of All the things to hit him with, a bloody plate?

"Get away from me!" She hollered, spacing herself further from him, backing off the coffee table and onto the sofa behind her, eyes frantically darting around the house.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit._

"Now, now… If you struggle… It'll only hurt more."

Her eyes widened at the predatory gleam in his eyes, the anger replaced with some kind of hunger. _Lust? _Quite possibly it could be. Mind in overdrive, she backed up further, standing off from him like two boxers in a ring as she waited for his next move, terrified.

It was then that he attacked, practically leaping across the room until he was seldom three paces in front of her, his face contorted into a mix of anger and that hunger she'd seen before. He was advancing on her, and she stepped backwards, frantically searching for a weapon, a phone…

"Now, now. Feisty one aren't we. Don't worry… I'll dispose of you quickly when we're done."

If her eyes were wide before, now she was sure they were out of her head, screaming, she turned and attempted to run as she tried to grab her shoulder, successfully pulling her backwards into a screeching heap on the floor as he did so. She screamed, louder still as he stood over her, one foot now placed to trap her arm to the floor.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!"

Tutting, he spoke in a deadly quiet voice to her, surprised she could hear it over her own panting and screaming. "Now, now. Can't do that. See I'm here to do a job, but before I dispose of you my dear we're going to have a little bit of fun you and me."

Her heart pounded ferociously as she felt glued to the ground, her body willing her to fight and get out of there. Her phone was in her bedroom… As well as the firearm. She'd slept with it there last night in her moments of secluded terror, just in case. She needed to get up there.

She hissed, sudden adrenaline kicking into her veins as her heart threatened to beat through the constraints of her ribcage. Without warning, she lifted her legs, thankful for the cheerleading she'd done previously, and swiftly aimed a kick at him as hard as she could. With him being so tall, and her so short, she failed to meet his face, instead hitting him in the middle of his torso, reeling backwards with shock at her fight back. Her legs ached as she crashed them into the ground, her former injury bidding her no help in this fight.

Merely a second passed as she hurtled through the doorway as he recovered from his shock, belting up the stairs, slipping on the wooden floor into a skid on her way. Grabbing the bannister she pulled herself up, breath coming out of her in haggard spurts as she went.

He was shocked, and almost amused. She had kicked him! First a plate, now her own foot. He grinned as he counted to three to let her think she could get away before striding purposefully through into the hallway, her feet just visible as she dragged herself up the stairs. He would not chase her, no. He'd be able to get her in no time.

He watched which way she turned, and advanced up the stairs to where he heard the slam of a door before him. With the light peeking through, he could see she'd thrown herself in front of the door, an idle attempt to keep him out.

"Sakuraaa… Aren't we a bit old for hide and seek now?" He taunted, watching the previously shaking shadow of her under the door stop still, silent. He could practically feel the terror coursing through her veins as he advanced upon her, knowing that he didn't have much time. If she was going to call anyone if he left her in there, then his time was cut drastically short from having his way with her. He hammered on the door and heard her whispering to herself, some tirade about someone helping her. He knew she was talking to herself.

On the other side of the door, Sakura looked for anything within her reach that she could use to block the doorway. She'd never needed a lock on her bedroom, and now she greatly regretted that need. Her phone and the gun were mere metres away, taunting her. She knew if she moved he would be through the door in seconds, in fact she knew that if she didn't move he would be through it and it would hurt. Looking to her right, she grabbed a doorstop and wedged it under, staying there for another moment as she contemplated what to do. She had to get to the gun. If she got the phone, she might run out of time before someone got there.

Who would she call? The police. No. She knew who she had to call, the number was sat there in her phone from where Eriol had keyed it in the other day. She didn't want to speak to him, but now she realised the error of her ways and knew there was no much choice- she would have to speak to Syaoran Li. Glancing behind her and listening to the taunts from behind the door, she knew she didn't have much time. Pulling herself up on shaky legs, she ran over to the bed, grabbing the box the gun was in and opening it, pulling it out as she grabbed her phone in the other hand, dialling for Syaoran.

She laid the phone on the bed, letting it call before he picked up. _If he picks up._ She fumbled with her shaking hands as she attempted to load bullets into it, dropping a couple before having to put them back in. Her blood pounded in her ears as she did so, noticing that Li had not yet answered the phone. It had only been seconds.

Suddenly, behind her, the door flew off its hinges with a loud bang and she dropped the gun on the bed, turning paler as the second as the man entered the room, grinning from ear to ear.

"My my, what are we doing?"

She screamed as he launched towards her, grabbing the gun off the bed and fiddling to take off the safety catch. She was unsuccessful as she did so, him landing on top of her in a heap of limbs and screaming.

"You bastard! Get off me!" She screamed, the gun in one of her hands. There was no way she could take the safety off now.

"I don't think so little one." He grinned, slamming his hand sideways into her wrist which went limp, the gun falling out of her grasp as she did so.

Her eyes widened at the loss of her weapon, filling with salty tears that blurred her vision at the monster in front of her. He looked like pure evil, dark hair and dark eyes watching every move she made and grinning further still. He put his leg between hers, splaying her across the floor as she suddenly cried harder beneath him attempting to thrash and move out of his way. Spit dripped out of her mouth as she spluttered and cried, suddenly wanting to squeeze her eyes shut. She felt weak, defenceless and most certainly alone.

-x-

"Please! Please! Get off me please! Just kill me, please! Don't do it!"

"Now, now, little one. Where's the fun in that?"

He could hear her scream. Hear her cry. The voice in his ears was ringing as he pulled the car from the driveway with lightning speed, still listening to the incident occurring at the other end of the phone. He could hear Sakura, her cries and pleas, and he recognised the other voice too. Jai. The assassin always sent by the Mamba's to do their dirty worked, skilled at brutality and not a stranger to sexual assault along the way. He grabbed the steering wheel harder, throwing the car around corners as he heard her cry as she was hit on the head by something.

There was a silence for a moment, and he took in a breath as he rounded another corner, suddenly aware that he could neither hear her or Jai. The creepy bastard. Then, suddenly, a voice, right next to the phone.

"Ah… Who would have known it would be you she'd call? Syaoran Li, what a pleasure. I'm sure you will take most enjoyment in hearing this."

He growled loudly at the car phone, seeing only red as he replied. "Get the fuck away from her Jai, your business isn't with her! Don't you dare touch her!"

He heard the laugh, sinister and taunting as Sakura moaned softly in pain somewhere in the background. "Now, now Mr Li. I suggest that you just sit pretty and enjoy the show."

"You sick bastard!" He heard a loud rip, as if some clothing had just been torn off her and felt his stomach turn, nausea washing over him in a wave as he almost failed to drive the car any longer. He felt sick, he needed to save her. He knew not why, he had run out of the house to the shouts of the others questioning him and pelted to the car mere moments ago when he had answered the call and heard the ruckus on the other end. He couldn't let Jai have her.

-x-

He grinned as she stilled when he ripped the front of her dress open, a quick tug and the material split before his eyes giving him a view of her underwear. Taught stomach, perky breasts and long milky legs lay in front of him. The girl had given up in her screaming; only moaning in protest softly as she seemed to fall in and out of consciousness. _Best get this over quick. _He grinned in satisfaction as he reached up to touch her hair, the long silky tresses threading through his fingers as she lamely attempted to jerk away from his grasp.

Sakura's mind was in overdrive. She was about to be raped. About to die. All she felt were the salty tears spilling into her mouth as her body felt like lead. She had heard him speak to Li, heard his voice and in a way it comforted her. She had already resigned herself to the fact that he might not make it in time, that she probably was about to meet her death. It was better than this. She could feel his hands, lightly touching her shoulders and ripping the dress from her with precision. She cried harder, wishing she could move. Her vision was swimming from the final blow to the head he'd delivered. She couldn't move, she could barely speak, and she was about to die in a cruel and disgusting twist of fate.

"Now, now pretty. Less of the crying." Jai growled, looking at the feast in front of him. He cackled as he did so, looking at the girl just laid there in her underwear. She looked like some kind of angel, hair splayed around her in her pale undergarments on the carpet of what he guessed was her bedroom. How fitting that Li should listen, oh the boss would be so pleased. He would indeed get paid handsomely for this.

Pulling another hand up, he suddenly reached around her back, pulling her up slightly and spilling her chest out in front of his eyes as her bra pinged off and fell down slightly. Removing the garment he used a moment to sit back, grinning at his prize and the fear in her eyes.

"No… Please… No…" Her voice came out in sharp gasps, frantic and pleading with him. _Why plead? _They should be proud that he deemed them good looking enough to even think of screwing one of them and their association with the Li gang. Growling, he slapped her across the face, her head snapping back in an instant and a cry escaping her lips.

"You might have to speak up, wouldn't want Li to miss the show. I hope you can still hear this Li!" He shouted the last bit, the cruel smile upon his face as he advanced on her, hands suddenly touching her, starting at her arms and moving up, cruelly, slowly, toward the centre of her chest.

She cried, harder. Dirty. Naked. Used. She felt sick as he touched her, wanting to vomit profusely at the situation. How could she have been so stupid to think she could have stayed alone? She wanted to knock herself out, contemplating using the last of her strength to smash her head against the floor and try and render herself out for the count. It probably wouldn't work. At the moment, she actually felt as if she just wanted to die. To escape this torture, this brutal and vial exploitation of her body that she was powerless to prevent. She cried and hiccupped harder, feeling his hands moving desperately slow to rest upon her chest and saw out of the corner of her eye his face light up in sick satisfaction. Beneath him, naked and feeble.

He began to remove his jacket, slipping it off his shoulders, his knees and body still pinning her under him in the moments that passed so slowly, yet she knew they were only seconds. He revealed a plain black shirt, large muscles and the unmistakeable tattoo of a snake winding its way around his upper bicep. He began to remove it, throwing it to the pile with the coat before reaching down to remove his belt, ever the while watching her with that sick grin on his face.

This was it. This was her innocence, the thing that she had protected, that had kept her who she was, about to be lost to a madman from some gang before she had any say in the matter. She wanted to escape, the scream, but the words died in her throat as his belt was removed with a click, him pulling it from the loops in his dark trousers with a satisfied smile on his face.

"It won't hurt a bit princess… Just enjoy it" He winked at her as he finally caught her eye, leaning close so he could tickle her fact with his breath this time, the smell of mint turning her stomach as he did so.

Somewhere in the moment, she had forgotten the rest of her ears in tune to her surroundings. She heard, quietly but there, the noise of something coming into the drive, a quiet hum, but something. _A car! _She prayed to herself that it would be someone coming to rescue her, that Syaoran would send someone that perhaps someone had heard her protests and the fight that had ensued after this imposter had invaded her home. She looked to the man, realising he had not heard it, who was now quietly looking up and down her body with that twisted smile, before applying his hands to her. Cold and hard he groped her, and she shrieked in pain as he did so, pulling at her breasts with the escaping sound of pleasure as he did so. She cried harder, if possible, as with one hand he began to move down toward her pants, watching her eyes the whole time for her reaction.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"

That voice. She knew that voice. Syaoran! She moved her heard, Vision blurred as she did to see the muscular body of Syaoran Li walk through the door, grabbing the other man and practically throwing him off her body, leaving her there, one again nearly naked and feeling very much alone.

She could hear a sick crack as the two men began fighting, the other one now upon his feet and giving Syaoran his very best in an attempt to harm him. She couldn't focus, instead two blurs were now just moving back and forth, and the noise in her ears louder and louder as her mind began to come back to earth, dumping upon her the situation that she now found herself in.

Moaning softly she attempted to move up, her body sore and cold as she did so, squeezing her eyes open and shut as she tried in vain to find focus. When she did, she realised it was not pretty.

Syaoran and the other man were truly taking chunks out of one another. She could see a cut on Syaorans forehead and the other man appeared to have a broken nose, grappling with one another across the room in a crash of her possessions as they did so. Realising she had to do something, despite her current state of undress, she pulled herself up the best she could, moaning louder this time yet thankfully failing to divert the attention of the others. Fumbling with her other hand, she rolled over, grabbing for the gun on the floor and attempting to get some feeling back into the other that had been damaged to attempt to help Syaoran.

She shivered as she felt it in her hands, the safety now turned off as she tried to focus. She couldn't shoot this gun. She couldn't even see straight, what if she hit Syaoran? She shouted his name, hoping that he could see that she had a gun, perhaps come and retrieve it from her.

In a split second he moved his head to look at her, eyes wide as he saw the gun in her hand. She screamed in that moment, as for diverting his attention he paid the ultimate price as the other man brought his fist with a crack into his cheek, knocking him staggering away from him before gathering the strength to bolt out of the door.

She watched, dismayed, as Syaoran wobbled to the floor, falling onto the carpet, arms outstretched to support himself after his wounding. She screamed loudly, _Oh God! Oh God!_

"Syaoran!" She attempted to move, hefting her limbs from the floor and dropping the gun at her side as she fought to regain control of her body and move toward him. She could see him breathing as she pulled herself forward toward him, legs tired, arms aching.

"Syaoran?" She was whispering now, reaching him as she did so.

He cracked an eye open and studied her, sitting up suddenly and placing a hand on his face with a grimace. She was shocked that he had done so, thinking a moment ago that he was unconscious.

"Sakura…" He whispered, finishing looking to the door and listening quietly to fixing her with attention. She knew she must look wrecked, practically naked on the floor, battered and tear stained, the fight having escaped from her as she collapsed with a breath onto the ground, crying once more.

She saw his eyes soften, such juxtaposition from the moments ago when he was so cold hearted in his dealings with that man. How he had deserved it, yes. The change, however, was almost terrifying. "Sakura, what did he…?" His voice trailed off, the great Syaoran Li now speechless as he focused upon her body, clothes ripped on the floor and wearing only one garment. He felt sickness wash over him once more

"He… He didn't… Just this…" She cried, curling herself up into a ball on the floor, covering her bare chest with her thin arms.

Blushing, he reached out, gathering her small form up into his, cradling her like a child in his lap. "Shush… It's alright, its okay now. You're safe." His voice was soft and soothing, she'd never heard him take such a tone before and it did indeed comfort her nerves as she shook against him.

Feeling her shake against him and noting her apparent undress, with a swift movement he removed his shirt and felt her freeze as he did so. "Sorry… Here." He whispered, cooing in her ear as he placed it over her shoulders and hugged her form into his. She relaxed once more, coughing as she cried.

So he just sat there and let her.

**AN: Dramaaaaaa! Review guys! Over 7000 words for this chapter (be thankful for snow days!)**


	10. Nightmares

**AN: Disclaimer for this chapter and the last that I forgot to put it on. I don't own anything**

**Hi guys! Welcome to the 10****th**** instalment of Recoil!**

**Just a quick note to say thanks for the positive response I've received! I can see a lot of people reading and not a lot of reviewing though :( Oh well I hope you're enjoying it and on with the show!**

**RATING IS NOW CHANGED: This will now be rated **_**M. **_**After re-reading last chapter, just to be safe, I want to change it. I always said I would probably change it in the future, so I guess now is the right time to do so. **

_Chapter Ten_

Rubbing the sleep out of her amethyst eyes, a yawn etched its way across the young girls' features as she robotically moved from the bed and out into the corridor. The cold floor assaulted her senses as she stumbled into the next room, a deep frown adorning her beautiful features.

Entering, she spotted the reason for her restlessness, shaking and sweating profusely under the cover of the four poster bed. With a sigh she heaved herself onto it, sitting next to the other girl whilst whispering calming words and stroking her hair. Despite the dream state of her companion, she seemed to react to her soothing, settling down with tears flowing down her cheeks.

_Oh Sakura, what can I do to help you? _The thought had plagued Tomoyo's mind since Sakura and Li had been brought back to the mansion four days ago, as she watched her outgoing friend become introverted from the emotional scars of her very near demise. She had cried taking comfort in the others who had also attempted to soothe their distant friend, with little avail. Those emerald orbs that she knew so well had no light behind them; barely a flicker of emotion would pass across her face as she spent all her time in the bedroom, gazing out of the window like a robot.

She had conversed with Eriol many times in the past few days, a go-between through him and Li she knew. Li had been sparse in his presence since the return to the home of the gang, and as far as she knew the meetings that had been of greater frequency since the brutal attack as Li attempted to find some shred of redemption. She had heard Sakura cry out for him in the night, two in a row, as if his presence would make the demons in her mind disappear. Perhaps Sakura's need for her rescuer was what would ultimately help pull her out of her coma like state, his presence had seemed to bring her some safety.

Sighing as Sakura fell into a deep stupor once more; she pulled the cover over herself and slipped further down the bed, still clinging onto her like a child. She had been worried sick about her friend before, as Sakura felt like family to her. With Sonomi's lack of presence in her life at the moment, Sakura was some form of familial comfort that she could revel in; yet now she felt it slipping from her grasp. She needed her best friend back.

-x-

"Eriol?"

"You look tired, same as the past few nights I take it?"

A frown adorned his elegant features and for a moment she allowed herself to take in how beautiful this man was before her. Every time they spoke to one another she could never believe that he was part of a gang, such a well-spoken and intelligent man would surely be deemed for better things in life. They had become rather close, as much as was possible, in the few days that she had spent in the house. For some reason he appeared to be the most reasonable and willing to listen to her, especially in her plight to return her friend to her normal self.

"Have you seen much of Li?"

"Yeah. I saw him at the meeting, I haven't seen him since. Why, what's up?" A twinkle in his eye let her know that he knew exactly what she wanted from him.

"Do you think he would go speak with Sakura? They haven't seen one another since… You know. I just feel like it might help to have someone who went through it with her… He saved her Eriol." A tear came to her eye and before she was aware of what was happening, he reached up and brushed it away. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she looked up at him, their proximity had never been as close before and she could catch the faint aroma of apple blossom and acacia as he did so. When she dared open them again, he had moved, looking anywhere in the room but her as she felt her cheeks turning scarlet.

"I'll go see him, I imagine he's in his office. I'm sure he'll be willing to help." His smile was genuine, lighting up her features too as she took him in and nodded, watching him traipse down the hall to find Li.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Closing the door with a click and entering the familiar office, Eriol noted the haggard look Syaoran was sporting underneath his usually cool exterior.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I'll be better when we've put some kind of plan into action. I keep drawing blanks as what to do what would warn them off the most." He reclined into his chair, and Eriol could surmise that his friend had obviously been different since the attack on the young female currently residing in one of the rooms.

"Tomoyo came to speak to me."

Raising an eyebrow, Syaoran examined the expression of his companion. "Is it unusual that she came to see you? I don't doubt that it's not just me who has noticed your constant presence around one another."

Coughing, Eriol looked away for a moment before shrugging slightly and playing with the lapel of his jacket. Syaoran could see the usually calm man was quite flustered at the mention of the dark haired female.

"Anyway, it's about Sakura." Eriol watched keenly for a reaction from the other man with the mention of her name, and despite the calm exterior he could see some semblance of emotion behind his eyes as he mentioned her.

"What about her?"

"Would you go see her? She's having night terrors or something, Tomoyo's dead off her feet trying to calm her down, she seems to think that seeing you will somehow… Rectify the situation slightly." Eriol couldn't keep the concern out of his voice as he spoke, remembering the upbeat and spunky young girl that had been in place of this shell that remained.

"I'll go see her. Is that why you're up so early?"

Eriol nodded, yawning and stretching out like a cat. It was just before sunrise, the day daring to peek through the trees lining the exterior of the property next to the high gates that allowed them entry. Peering outside for a thoughtful moment, he stood, leaving the room in silence without exclamation from his friend.

-x-

He didn't know how long he had stood in front of the door, but he was beginning to fidget with his pockets as he stood there considering whether he was to enter. He felt almost _suspicious_ as he stood there, like an intruder, even though it was his home. His contemplation of how to speak to the girl in the room had been running through his mind all morning, and as she had not emerged he felt himself compelled to go and see her as Eriol had suggested. Why had he not been before? The reminder of that night had played in his head constantly over the past few days, the sickening crack of her skull being hit against something, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth and her apparent state of undress had somehow haunted his mind. Why she affected him so, he was unaware, his previous anger at her dissipating as soon as he saw her harrowing form the other night.

Knocking finally, he listened keenly to the door waiting to hear a response. Hearing none, he frowned, opening the door in front of him and entering the room. Glancing around he saw her clothes from that night, piled up neatly in the corner, still covered with the slight traces of blood and dirt from her dealings with Jai. Shuddering, he entered, noting that she was stood out on the balcony, clad in only an oversized shirt of his and what he guessed would be her underwear underneath. He saw her stiffen at the creak of the door and her eyes dart back to join his, an unreadable expression befalling her features as she analysed his form before turning back to lean over the wrought iron railing, sighing heavily as she did so.

In a swift motion he was next to her, and she could smell the scent that she had been cocooned in the couple of times she had been close to him, washing over her senses as she closed her eyes. _Finally. _She had wanted to see him, she hated to admit it. Despite her state of undress, she was comforted by his presence, from his rescue of her.

"You look better" He commented, turning to lean on the balcony facing her, watching as she opened her emerald eyes and mirrored his movement. He could see still the cut on her head, one on her lip and noted that her arm had once again been bandaged, the same arm as before. Bruises were evident on her neck and legs and he shuddered with the thought of where else had been marked by the assault. He didn't know what to say to placate her.

"I don't feel it." She spoke with a solemn tome, no hint of amusement like he would have expected of her. This innocent girl had been transformed to one that had horrors in the night and demons she was unable to face. At the moment, he was unsure of what he could do to help.

"It takes time you know, to recover from something like this." His eyes bore into hers as they looked to one another, blazing amber searching for a hint of the spark that had previously rested in hers.

She gulped down, and he could tell she was wavering on the boundary of tears. She shook her head and looked up toward the sky with a pained smile. "I guess I just don't want to feel anything at the minute, I just can't think of what happened without blaming myself."

In a second he was closer to her, gripping her arms softly and holding her to face him, an expression of confusion crossing her face as her eyes widened. "The last thing you can do is blame yourself, Sakura. If you blame yourself, wonder what you could've done differently, it'll drive you into the ground. Don't forget that."

He knew, deep down, that he himself had blamed her in the hours before her attack for staying at her home alone and in the hours after punished himself for not allowing Eriol to place protection over her. However, to hear from her soft pink lips that she was blaming herself… He could not fathom it. In the deepest recesses of his mind, he had never expected that they would send Jai for her, known for his sexual exploitation and cruel ways with women. Jai was an unexpected twist in the caverns of Mamba's mind, brought out as retribution, and he knew it was a way to get at him, rather than the innocent girl that stood before him.

Snapping from his reverie, he noticed that the girl in front of him had taken a step back toward the balcony and was trying fruitlessly not to cry. "Hey…" He whispered, walking toward her and wondering what to do in the way of comfort. He had told Eriol he would help try and fix her, but could not find what he was expected to do. Emotions of women he was unsure of, the Li women having been brought up strong and unyielding, the girls of the gang always… Willing and flighty. Yet, in front of him was a female who invoked in those around her some kind of _need _for her virtuous personality and fiery character.

"Oh Li, what am I meant to do…" A single tear fell down her porcelain cheek, and inside he had to will himself from stopping to brush it away. _Back to Li now? _He was almost glad that she had not called him Syaoran, the voice of her those few days ago ringing in his mind, her broken and frightened call out to him as she sobbed and shook in his arms.

Without further thought, he stepped forward toward her once more and pulled her into an embrace, her small head falling into his chest as he did so. She froze with the contact before relaxing into his arms, just as she had previously. Shushing her, he held her there before placing a quick kiss atop her hair. "It'll be alright, just allow yourself to get better."

Before he knew what had occurred, he felt himself blush and untangled from her, leaving the room in a hurry and a shocked Sakura stood behind him.

-x-

Once again, she yawned and moved her dark hair out of her eyes. Sighing, she pulled the quilt from her and moved automatically toward the corridor. Tomoyo was getting fed up of this; not that she did not want Sakura to recover, she just wanted a decent night's sleep. Suddenly halting seeing the figure stood contemplatively in front of the door, a gasp escaped her mouth.

"Li?" She whispered, startling the young man who had obviously not heard her approach.

"Is it like this every night since?" He looked at her with a frown upon his features, the cries of the woman held in the bedroom in front of him obviously causing him pain.

"Yes… I come to her though, to help…"

"Can I?" He sounded unsure for the first time she had heard since they had met, and she forced herself to stop from raising her brow at the question.

"Be my guest, I'll be next door if you have any problem…" She turned and retreated back to her room, unknown to the brown haired man, a sly grin adorned her beautiful features.

He entered, unsure of what to do to placate Sakura. He had been told by Eriol it would be around this time that she would become distressed and right on cue, she had. He had stood outside the door wondering if he would add to her distress, but with Tomoyo's blessing he now stood there. Writhing underneath the covers was Sakura, unconsciously crying out in her sleep.

"Stop… No… Please… Stop… Just kill me, just kill me…" She cried harder, tears now slipping down her face as he approached, unsure what he would do. Her breathing was laboured, chest rising and falling where the covers had slipped down unknown to her. Sweat covered her brow, dripping in small beads down her face which was contorted into a grimace

He stood, shocked, staring at the girl for a moment and for what he assumed was the first time in his life, he felt nervous. _What am I meant to do? _He considered bolting through the door and letting Tomoyo deal with it, before remembering that she had been willing to open up to him previously and now he was sure that he should at the very least try.

Swiftly moving forward, he stood over the bed, her cries still continuously ringing inside his head, marring every other thought that dared to enter his brain. Before he could think for another moment, he sat on the bed, indenting it slightly and causing her body to move with the downward motion, yet she did not wake. Carefully, he pulled her toward him, burying her head toward him and halted for some reaction.

He felt her freeze, unconsciously, and then her breathing began to slow, tears still flowing down her cheeks. _Is she still asleep? _He could not tell. His mind whirred as he considered what he could do, whether it would be wise to wake her up. What if she thought he was going to do something to her? That was the last thing he needed.

"Sakura… Sakura… Wake up." He whispered into her ear, hearing a soft moan emanate from within her. Suddenly, she froze completely and he knew at once she was awake.

She struggled for a moment, breath becoming sharper and he knew she was panicking. Pulling her out of his embrace to arm's length; she looked at him with wide doe eyes, recognising that it was indeed him who had come to prevent her night time torture.

"Syaoran?" The words came out sleepily, disjointed and soft. Her voice was hoarse from the screaming, her nose clogged from her outburst. She looked shocked.

"You were… You were screaming… I didn't know what would help…" He trailed off, looking into her eyes for a hint of acknowledgment in them. She looked down, obviously embarrassed at his presence in her room.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to." She began to cry once more, her shoulder shaking as he circled them with his thumbs, his grip upon her still firm.

Pulling her form to him, he stroked her hair, quietly making shushing noises to calm her down whilst she wept.

"It's okay… I told you earlier…"

She nodded against him, grasping at his shirt with a small first, holding onto the green material as if for dear life.

"Let's talk about it… We were both there." He dared, knowing the painful subject would still be sore with her, yet he imagined that as she had not spoken to anyone about it yet it may help her cause. He knew immediately she did not appreciate the idea as she froze once more.

"It's okay, come on… Tell me."

She broke then; once again tears cascading down her face and a crimson blush etching upon her cheeks. It was if the dam had suddenly crumbled, letting the waves of terror course through her and the demons of her mind creep their way into showing on the outside.

"I just keep thinking of it… Of what would have happened if you weren't there… Why wouldn't he just kill me? Why did he have to do that?"

He stayed silent for a moment, mind turning over her small voice and obvious trauma at the event. "There are some things that are beyond the control of us, Sakura… We cannot control the actions of another, but what we can do is be thankful that he didn't get any further… No matter how bad it is what happened, just remember you're still here…"

She nodded against him; he could feel the cogs turning in her head almost as she contemplated his thoughts. "I never thought of it like that…"

"Don't let it break you, don't let it change you Sakura… You're better than that… Who else could make me come and save them like some damsel in distress?" He teased, and to his great surprise she giggled, still sniffling yet she had actually laughed.

"You're not funny, you would have done it for anyone." She was quiet again, a sombre tone to her voice, making him frown.

"That's the thing… I don't think I would have…" His voice was a whisper and she drew away and looked up at him, emerald eyes full of unshed tears and a slight, yet certainly there, wonderment. Then, she smiled at him through her tears; a smile that he knew hadn't been upon her beautiful features in days.

She yawned then, supressing it barely in the dark room. "You're tired, you need some rest…" He whispered, yet he didn't let her go from him.

She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow before she shuffled down into the bed and pulled the cover over her, he still sat on the edge. "Would you do me a favour?" Her voice was quiet, like a mouse in the night.

He cocked an eyebrow back at her for an answer, an amused grin starting to creep up his face. "What would that be little one?"

She blushed profusely at this before clearing her throat, fiddling with the bed cover. "Would you stay with me? Tomoyo usually comes in…" She whispered, and for a second he contemplated making her repeat her request just for jest. However, seeing that she was still distressed, he simply nodded and got under the cover himself, watching as she rolled over to face the other side of the bed with a small smile upon his face. _What is this girl doing to me?_

**AN: Awwwww! Shorter chapter this time because I wanted to get you one out at the weekend! The next chapter we shall return to this scene in the morning… And some further developments in the way of action! Because we all love action! R&R but most importantly I hope you enjoyed it!**


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